Huntsman signs RDA measure

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. put his stamp of approval on controversial new legislation Monday that severely limits the use of public money to fund retail development and soccer stadiums.

SB184 bans the use of redevelopment agency tax funds for recreation arenas — including the major league soccer stadium looking for a home in the Salt Lake Valley. The law also puts a one-year moratorium on RDA funds going toward retail development and prohibits the use of eminent domain for redevelopment areas.

"What we're seeing with seizing individuals' homes to give to a Wal-Mart, that's just bad policy," bill sponsor Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, said. "SB184 was never anti-soccer or anti-development; it's pro-education and pro-good policy."

But mayors like Matthew Godfrey in Ogden have been vocal about their angst over the bill, sending letters this week urging Huntsman to veto the legislation.

"We're very disappointed. We have been stripped of the tools to redevelop our downtown and we'd appreciate someone from the state telling us how we can now redevelop our downtown," Godfrey said.

Murray Mayor Dan Snarr also asked the governor to veto the measure, saying he was particularly concerned that a year suspension on retail RDAs will curtail growth for many cities and leave development plans up in the air.

Murray's redevelopment plan for the Fireclay area at 4500 South and Main Street will not be put on hold by the legislation because the measure only affects those developments not under way by Feb. 15 of this year.

"What kills these developers is they know what the game rules are and everybody's playing by them. Then all of a sudden, in the middle of the game, they change the rules," Snarr said. "They have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in acquiring land and now they've delayed it."

Snarr said he also feared the legislation's provision banning eminent domain will promote urban sprawl as developers look to open land instead of having to hassle with property ownership disputes in rundown urban areas.

But Bramble said he is still confident the one-year suspension of retail RDAs will produce a fruitful dialogue on the definition of blight and when public money should fund retail projects. The legislative tax reform task force will be tackling those issues throughout next year.

"I think we have an obligation on all sides of the issue to sit down and continue the good faith discussion on how to provide an economic development tool and at the same time prohibit the most egregious abuses," Bramble said.

Other bills signed by Huntsman Monday:

• SB8, which allows individual counties to raise vehicle registration fees by $10 to help fund the preservation of future road corridors.

• SB139, which prohibits cities from considering the wages paid by companies when granting contracts.

• HB132, which funds an outreach and educational officer for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

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E-mail: estewar@desnews.com.

Contributing: Nicole Warburton

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