Preserving Sugar House

None by KCPW

City Councilman Pushes for New Zoning

(KCPW News) Freshman City Councilman Soren Simonsen is on a mission to save the eclectic nature of the Sugar House Business District. Tonight he will argue the historic nature of the Granite Furniture building on 21st South and Highland in hopes the Salt Lake City Council will preventing developers from completely razing the block:

"There are lots of small businesses on that block that would be displaced by redevelopment," says Simonsen. "You see the metal facade that was added on about 30 years ago - it's not particularly attractive. It could actually be removed and the brick facade behind it could be renovated into the charming building it once was."

For months, owners of the buildings on the Granite Block have been in talks to overhaul the neighborhood. Many of the locally-owned shops in the Granite Block of Sugar House fear rents in the new development will be too pricey for them, leaving chain stores with more capital to take over. Simonsen says the City should take a lesson from the popular Pike Place Market preservation effort in downtown Seattle:

"It's the historic buildings in combination with the local merchants that have made that such an attraction," says Simonsen. "You know I'm all for creating wonderful urban places and sometimes that means replacing, but other times it means recognizing the value of what you have."

Simonsen is asking the City Council to re-evaluate zoning regulations that will ensure small businesses continue to thrive in the Sugar House Business District.

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