West Valley City officials want to redevelop the area around their city hall and Valley Fair Mall, but it is difficult to woo major retailers without knowing what will happen to the mall, said Brent Garlick, economic development manager for West Valley.

"Anyone that's interested in putting any of their own money here — commercial or anything — the first question is, 'What's going on with the mall?' " Garlick said. "You don't want to be the one who pioneered all this new investment and then it just sits there. It's dependent on the mall getting going forward and then you'll probably see some development surrounding the mall."

Large, enclosed malls have been losing favor with shoppers who prefer more open arrangements in "lifestyle centers," or shops that are clustered around a certain demographic. Garlick said that all is not lost, however, for the vast tracts of real estate that developed into malls during the past 25 years. Developers could "leave it enclosed here, and bring in some restaurants and a new department store and an entertainment venue," Garlick said. "I'm sure there is some kind of morphing into a hybrid type of setting where some of it is enclosed and some of it is not."

Meanwhile, Holladay City Council members must face their constituents.

Gordon Hanks, co-owner of Holladay Pharmacy and former supporter of the RDA, is concerned about the city's reluctance to pledge never to use eminent domain — a tool that technically is not even legal in Utah now for redevelopment — and a consultant's sweeping study that declared much of central Holladay blighted.

"The redevelopment was originally just going to be Video Vern's and the intersection," Hanks said. "Then, all of a sudden, the complete Holladay Village Center is blighted and (the City Council) wants to put the whole Village Center under an RDA with the option of eminent domain — if the Legislature ever changes their mind."

Hanks' assertion about the Legislature and eminent domain is a common chord running through the angry discussions about the Village Center RDA. Residents and property owners generally believe that City Council members would use politically unpopular seizures as soon as the tool became legal again, but city officials consistently point out that they cannot — and likely would not — use eminent domain.

Cities usually have used RDAs and blight studies to jump-start development in areas.

The Legislature removed eminent domain for purposes of economic development with a bill passed during the 2005 session that also placed a one-year moratorium on RDAs. The Holladay Village Center squeaked in just before the moratorium went into effect, but no RDA in Utah can use eminent domain for development.

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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com