No Smith's in Cedar Hills

CEDAR HILLS — For the second time, Smith's Food and Drug has opted not to build a store in a conservative Utah County community. Some suspect it was because residents were considering banning alcohol sales and mandating Sunday closure.

Smith's had been finishing the due-diligence process to become the anchor store of a development in Cedar Hills near Lone Peak High School. But on Tuesday, Smith's management suddenly decided to pull out, saying they preferred to devote resources elsewhere.

"We needed to put our resources into other markets that have become more pressing," said Smith's spokeswoman Marsha Gilford. "We have other store sites that we have been working on that have become a higher priority."

Smith's decision comes on the heels of efforts by a coalition of Cedar Hills citizens to put ordinances on the ballot banning alcohol and Sunday business operation in the bedroom community. A few years ago the store pulled out of a planned development in Highland following that city's decision to ban alcohol sales and require Sunday closings. Instead, Smith's constructed a store in Saratoga Springs, which permits alcohol sales and seven-day business operations.

Gilford acknowledged that Smith's has been surveying Cedar Hills residents regarding alcohol sales and Sunday closure but said that the community's opinion about those issues was not the deciding factor for the grocer.

"(The survey) was very insightful, and we felt that most citizens, while they may not be in agreement, believed that it should be made available to people to choose," she said. "I think it helped us to have a better understanding, but it wasn't the deciding factor in our decision to move out of Cedar Hills. Certainly it was a factor, but it was not the deciding factor."

Project developer Mark Hampton said he was disappointed by Smith's decision, but thinks the location will draw another anchor.

"It's too bad, because I think Cedar Hills is a wonderful opportunity for an anchor grocer," he said.

Hampton wasn't overly concerned about the political climate driving stores away from Cedar Hills.

"I think every anchor would look at all the variables," he said. "Is it going to be a major impact on the decision? I don't know, it depends on which store and who they are, and they'll just have to go through and resolve that for themselves."

One Cedar Hills council member said he thinks the residents' effort to pass ordinances banning alcohol sales and mandating Sunday closure was likely a factor in Smith's decision to look elsewhere.