The payday lending industry will tell you it provides a needed service. Its customers lack access to traditional forms of credit and have such poor credit histories they cannot obtain loans or credit cards. These lenders lend money to people who need a few hundred dollars to cover some checks, keep the utilities turned on or even buy food. These establishments tend to be clustered in areas that are poor, heavily Hispanic or near military installations.

But these lenders exact a big price for this convenience. In Utah, payday lenders charge an average of 521 percent interest. Some charge as much as 900 percent interest, according to a November 2005 investigative report by Deseret Morning News reporter Lee Davidson. These establishments tend to be clustered in areas that are poor, heavily Hispanic or near military installations.

While some consumer groups have called on state governments to cap the interest payday lenders can charge, Salt Lake City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton is proposing a different approach. She wants to cap the number of such lenders based on population or to restrict their proximity to one another. Another option would be to make payday lenders subject to a conditional zoning use, which means the City Council would have to approve such businesses operating in the city.

While some may grouse about government placing onerous restrictions on a legal business, there are many legitimate concerns about how payday lenders operate. No question, they should be able to make a reasonable profit because they serve a clientele that others reject. However, they should not run roughshod over customers just because they can.

Last year, a national study by the Center for Responsible Lending determined that a typical payday loan borrower pays $793 for a $325 loan. In Utah, payday loan stores collect at least $69 million in excess, "predatory" fees each year.

The industry may argue that there has been a proliferation of payday lenders in Utah because there is a need in the marketplace. But it boggles the mind that there are more payday loan stores in the Beehive State than there are 7-Eleven convenience stores, McDonald's, Burger Kings and Subway restaurants combined. There are 24 payday lending stores in Salt Lake City alone. Councilwoman Saxton says eight of them are within a block and a half of her downtown home.

The problems of payday lending have come before state lawmakers in recent sessions, but the industry has staved off interest caps amid cries that they signaled a return of usury caps. Such caps were erased by the Legislature in the 1980s. Interestingly, payday lending stores contributed some $25,750 to the campaigns of winning legislators in the last election.

So the fight moves to the Salt Lake City Council chambers. The City Council needs to take a hard look at this issue to protect people who are already in dire straits.