Boxed In? Heber voting on Wal-Mart

HEBER CITY — This once-quiet mountain town has been engulfed by a modern-age political fight that has been waged in suburbs across Utah and all of America.

Wal-Mart: Everyday low prices — but at what cost?

Voters will decide Nov. 6 whether they want a Wal-Mart off their Main Street.

The ballot asks if a new zone should be accepted allowing retail outlets larger than 60,000 square feet into the Wasatch County community. The Boyer Co. development firm wants to build a 70-acre mixed-use development that, if voters approve, would include Wal-Mart as the anchor tenant.

Opponents argue that Heber will lose its charm and local flavor if such a massive development is built. Developers promise stores residents have wanted for years, since most shopping must be done in nearby Park City or in Provo or Salt Lake City.

Wade Williams, Boyer's director of retail development, said residents will get shopping they've never had before — clothing and shoe stores, plus restaurants.

He lists "mind-boggling" census statistics that show Heber grew 15 percent from 2000 to 2003 but retail sales only went up 1.2 percent.

On top of that, he points to Boyer-commissioned studies that show 90 percent of Heber residents have shopped at a Wal-Mart in the past 90 days and Heber residents spend $100 million worth of "leakage" outside city boundaries.

"That's what attracted us to Heber. You have this tremendous residential growth, but no retailers have moved into that marketplace and retail sales are just flat," Williams said.

But members of a grass-roots group calling itself Put Heber Valley First say they don't want to live in a place that is just like everywhere else. The group in April succeeded in collecting enough petition signatures for a voter referendum. The City Council passed an ordinance allowing big-box development in February, but the referendum allows voters to choose the town's future.

Heber has avoided an influx of chains and strip malls for years. Put Heber Valley First says the city should take time to appropriately grow a retail base.

"We're not a city in trouble. We're a city in demand, we're a city with options and choices, so why we'd rush to do the same old thing and change the rural nature of the place; I can't figure it out," said Matt Heimburger, a leader of the group. "We're doing this because we care about our community and want to see one of the most unique places in the West stay that way."