Skybridge opinion is flawed
First, it is unfortunate that rather than merely state his position and the reasons for it, he first took cheap shots at Jenny Wilson and me. Too often we see this in politics from candidates who feel they must attack their opponents. In my case, Christensen wrote that my comment that the skybridge is "kind of a no-brainer" indicated "an apparent lack of interest in study." Nothing could be further from the truth.
As a leader on the City Council, my involvement in this issue spans at least four years, since the Taubman Company was hired as the developer of the project. I have had numerous private and public meetings, with Taubman and many others. In fact, the City Council had six public meetings and discussions on this issue, between February and May, where all of the implications of a skybridge were thoroughly discussed. All of this led up to our 6-1 vote on April 17 to amend the master plan to allow for a skybridge if a number of conditions are met. To give you an idea of the scope of our review, the developer approached the Planning Commission requesting a one sentence change to the master plan. The commission recommended a one paragraph change to the plan. After extensive debate and study, our council passed a one-and-a-half-page amendment with numerous specific conditions and requirements.
1. It must have an aesthetically pleasing design. This is already required by the master plan amendment passed three months ago by the City Council.
2. It cannot include moving walkways, another condition that has already been made clear to Taubman.
3. The air rights cannot be sold and the bridge must be a "public way." Christensen's third condition is problematic. It may be an attempt to appease Rocky, but this could get us right back into the situation we were in several years ago with Main Street Plaza, when Christensen and other council members at the time required a pedestrian easement through private property. We should learn from past mistakes. The issue is easy public access, not making it a public forum. Let's not open up another can of worms in a misguided attempt to please everyone.
Let's get our facts right. Christensen asserts that he decided to support the skybridge after his own extensive study and research and after learning that City Creek will have "only 300,000 square feet of retail space." This is a stunning factual error. As Christensen should know, if he looked at the City Creek Center Web site, the project will actually have more than 800,000 square feet of retail. Macy's and Dillard's alone account for 300,000 square feet before Nordstrom or other retailers are included. There are many good reasons to support allowing the private-property owner to build a skybridge to connect its development. Not the least of which is the convenience and safety of patrons who would otherwise have to cross two-lanes of traffic and a TRAX line, sometimes in the dead of winter with snow on the ground. However, the "small size" of the development, as Christensen sees it, is not the reason.
Dave Buhler is a Salt Lake City Council member and mayoral candidate.
You can be the first to comment on this story.