2 Sugar House projects vying for Salt Lake City's OK

It would be a stretch to call it a best-of-times, worst-of-times situation for Sugar House, though there's certainly a "Tale of Two Cities" feel to development plans for the heart of the community's business district.

In this case, it's a tale of two developers, both of whom are proposing developments on Sugar House's Granite block. But several residents say only one of those projects reflects the wishes of the community.

More than 250 people have signed an online petition opposing plans by Craig Mecham Investments to knock down the block's eclectic strip of retail buildings that front 2100 South and Highland Drive, calling for the community's unique character to be maintained.

The residents point to the preservation-based project of Red Mountain Retail Group, the other developer on the block, as the type of development that fits well in the village-like community. Red Mountain is proposing to reuse the buildings along McClelland Street, including the old Granite Furniture store, in its mixed-use project of retail and residential.

Residents and petition sponsors Mark St. Andre and Susie Petheram say it's a matter of respecting the Sugar House Community Master Plan, which was adopted by the Salt Lake City Council in 2001 and updated in 2005. One developer is doing that, they say, but the other isn't.

Mecham is proposing to build two seven-story buildings with a mix of retail, office and residential space on the Granite block. The developer plans to use brick and stone architecture on the lower two levels in an effort to recapture the Sugar House feel.

Petheram said that's not enough.

"The Mecham project is essentially erasing 100 years of history to put in two new buildings in place of what historically had been nine smaller buildings," she said. "The scale and the massing (of the proposed project) is very different from what's there now."

Petheram said she and St. Andre, her husband, started the online petition (www.ipetitions.com/petition/savesugarhouse) as a plea to Mecham to "try to find a more creative solution" to development of the Granite block, as well as to draw attention to flaws in city ordinances that the couple say allow developers to disregard master plans.

"If the city and elected officials are going to continue to say that preserving the historic character of unique communities is important, then we really need to take a closer look at the policies and regulations that are in place right now," she said. "Because right now it's pretty contrary to that goal of preserving character."