SLC Small Business Zoning Proposal Expected to Advance

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(KCPW News) The Salt Lake City Council is expected to advance a proposal tonight that would require national chains to scale back their stores and signage in order to move into certain neighborhoods like 9th and 9th or 15th and 15th:

"I think we have several steps as a City that we have to take, and one of them is protecting that look and feel of our neighborhood business zones," says Councilmember Jill Remington Love. "That's what this proposal does."

Love's proposal does not go as far as Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson has suggested. He would like the city to ban chain stores in districts like Sugarhouse, where local shops are being evicted to make room for more expensive space likely to attract national chains. Love's proposal only focuses on the aesthetics of a neighborhood, but she says the next step is to offer loans and incentives to local businesses that the city has traditionally afforded national chains:

"It's not just about creating neighborhood zones where local businesses could be," says Love. "It's about growing our local businesses so their strong enough and healthy enough and there's a big enough pool of them that our local districts can pick and choose."

If Salt Lake City begins limiting chain stores in certain neighborhoods, it will follow in the footsteps of half a dozen California cities including San Francisco, Sausalito and Carmel.

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