David Everitt, Becker's chief of staff, said city officials have put together timelines for the council to consider the best course of action, whether that's imposing a moratorium, enacting a temporary ordinance or going through the standard ordinance-production process.

The city is wary of a moratorium, Everitt said, because a recent audit of the city's troubled planning division strongly recommended against using them.

"It puts an unreasonable amount of pressure on the planning division to truly do it right," he said. "It ends up forcing us to submit not fully vetted ordinances after six months."

In 2005, West Valley City became the first Utah city to limit payday lenders, requiring 600 feet between such outlets and allowing only one per 10,000 residents. Other Salt Lake County cities limiting payday lenders are Cottonwood Heights, Draper, Midvale, Murray, Sandy, South Salt Lake, South Jordan, Taylorsville and West Jordan.

Orem and American Fork in Utah County also have such ordinances in place.

---

E-mail: jpage@desnews.com