Sugar House groups suddenly scrap plan for new assessment area 5 years in the making
by Carter Williams ksl · KSL.comEstimated read time: 4-5 minutes
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Sugar House groups requested to withdraw a plan for a new assessment area that was first requested in 2021.
- The plan aimed to fund improvements, but faced challenges from economic constraints.
- City leaders hope that the request can be reconsidered in the future.
SALT LAKE CITY — A plan to create a new assessment for the Sugar House business district, which could fund improvements for the heart of the Salt Lake City neighborhood, is dead after more than five years of planning.
The Sugar House Community Council and Sugar House Chamber, which had first requested the assessment area in June 2021, sent Salt Lake City's Department of Economic Development a letter last week, asking to "withdraw that request in its entirety."
No explanation was given for the decision, but Salt Lake City officials said on Tuesday that economic constraints factored in the decision, an issue that was stressed by multiple Sugar House business owners during a rocky public hearing on the matter in August.
Members of the Salt Lake City Council were briefed about the letter during a work session on Tuesday, hours before they were scheduled to vote on a resolution to designate the special assessment area — a pivotal step in the lengthy process.
"The sentiments from the community changed. We have been told that basically there's so many things happening with the economy, additional charges happening to businesses at this time, that they feel that they just couldn't (enforce) an assessment at this time," said Lorena Riffo-Jenson, director of the city's economic development department.
The ultimate goal of the assessment area was to create an entity that could oversee events or improvements surrounding the Sugar House business district, similar to the Downtown Alliance, which handles the Downtown Farmers Market among other things.
Under the plan, participating businesses would be charged two assessments, one for economic promotion and another for holiday lighting.
"We just think it will solve a whole lot of problems, including dealing with a growing number of people who are in the neighborhood, patronizing the different stores, shops, bars and restaurants, along with creating a heightened sense of vibrancy," James Roberts, co-chairman of the Sugar House Chamber of Commerce, told KSL earlier this year.
The request was filed in 2021, but the bulk of the project picked up earlier this year. The city and requesting entities agreed to pause the proposal amid several projects and also unforeseen situations impacting the business district.
Road reconstruction and utility replacements on 1100 East/Highland Drive and 2100 South lasted from 2023 through 2025. A massive construction fire in 2022 was among "several issues" that happened over the past few years, too, Riffo-Jenson said.
It was clear that those constraints still had an impact on businesses by the time the assessment area was ready to be considered again, however.
Many businesses are still struggling from the impacts of the city projects, Melva Sine, president and CEO of the Utah Restaurant Association, said in August, when the city held a public hearing at the beginning of a protest period tied to the request.
Higher labor costs, wholesale food prices, rent and other expenses are also up, adding to challenges, she added at the time.
"Recovery is not finished in the Sugar House area," she said. "These businesses are still struggling."
A few business owners requested to be excluded from the district. Jeff Goddard, owner of Gutherie Bicycle, was among the frustrated business owners, saying he didn't see how the fee was "really going to help us stay open."
The protest period would have ended on Monday, leading to a vote on whether to designate the special assessment area. It would have authorized the city to proceed with economic promotion activities.
Instead, the process is over.
It's unfortunate, but it's up to the community to approve the assessment, and it makes sense to end the process if they don't want it, said Salt Lake City Councilwoman Sarah Young, whose district covers Sugar House.
"The buy-in just isn't there today," she said, referencing the construction projects and other economic constraints at the moment.
The abandonment doesn't mean it won't ever happen, she and other members of the City Council said, noting that the experience helped them understand the process better for any future requests in the city.
In the meantime, leaders of both the Sugar House Community Council and Sugar House Chamber say they plan to focus on keeping the business district busy.
"We remain committed to a vibrant and successful Sugar House business district and look forward to continuing to work with the city on efforts that support our businesses, residents and community," they wrote.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.