From Deseret News archives:
Cut! Salt Lake may rein in the film industry
While City Council members agree television and movie filming is a good thing for both the state's and the city's bottom line, some are not willing to sacrifice neighborhood life to support the film business.
"We're not here to provide a filming venue," Councilman Eric Jergensen said. "We're here to provide neighborhoods that are viable and vibrant."
In all city decisions, Jergensen maintains, the city should weigh pros and cons and "hopefully balance them in favor of the neighborhoods."
The filming issue has come to a head in the Avenues a district Jergensen represents where the television program "Everwood" has been filming for weeks. As the filming drags on, neighbors are complaining about the show, which is set in a small Rocky Mountain town, filming in the southeast portions of the Avenues.
"The streets are very small and so what happens is these large filming trucks come in and all the people involved in the filming come and then they work late," Jergensen said. "The problems are parking on the streets and people can't get to their homes, late night noise and so on."
"We chatted with our producers in Utah, and there have been no complaints lodged against 'Everwood' to our knowledge," Sheran Magnusson said.
Not every council member is as worried as Jergensen. Jill Remington Love said her neighborhood actually enjoyed having TV's "Touched By an Angel" filmed there. After filming was complete, the crew donated money to the neighborhood's street-lighting project.
"Our experience in our neighborhood has been very positive," she said.
Still, when "Touched By an Angel" filmed in Salt Lake City it moved from place to place throughout the city, never bothering one neighborhood for an extended period. With "Everwood," the Avenues gets a continuing hit.
Avenues issues aside, council members say they enjoy having many movie and television productions film in Salt Lake City.
"I am pro film industry," Councilman Dave Buhler said. "It's a great industry to have here."
Salt Lake City special events coordinator Shawn McDonough said one problem is the city has no rules on how to confront filming issues in neighborhoods.
"I would like to have some guidelines to help resolve some of the situations," McDonough said.
Guidelines are needed now more than ever since "filming (in Salt Lake City) is increasing every day," McDonough said.
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