Relent on plaza and store, Workman urges Salt Lake

Citing a political and economic investment in downtown Salt Lake City's future, Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman called on city leaders to relent on two significant and separate demands.

Speaking to reporters in the frosty cold on Sunday morning, Workman said that Nordstrom should be allowed to move to The Gateway shopping mall and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should be allowed to restrict speech and behavior as much as it feels necessary on the Main Street Plaza.

"Salt Lake County has more capital investment in downtown than Salt Lake City. With all of the money the county invests, these are very important issues," Workman said when asked why she chose to speak out on legal and zoning battles that are city, not county, issues. "I would hope that as the leader of 900,000 people, it convinces Salt Lake City leaders" to modify their stands.

Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson said that while Workman had every right to speak on the issues, she should have a better understanding of the written agreements guiding the city's decisions.

"I would be surprised that Mayor Workman would advocate that elected officials so casually move away from written agreements and promises made to the public," Anderson said.

He also doubted that the loss of Nordstrom would have a very profound impact of the economic health of downtown, and stressed that the city leaders are working "daily" to keep Nordstrom on Main Street.

"I don't think there's a city in the country that lost a convention because Nordstrom was or was not in the city," he said. "We have far more to offer as a community than simply one anchor department store."

Workman said that since Nordstrom is a draw for visitors, completely losing the chain could scare convention planners to other destinations. Because the store's owners made a good faith effort that eventually failed, the store should now be allowed to relocate.

"So the time has come that Nordstrom either closes its door for good in Salt Lake City, or it be given a new birth in another part of downtown," she said. "Downtown Salt Lake City is more than just the north end of Main Street. It extends from Trolley Square to Temple Square to The Gateway."

Although not LDS (she would not state her specific, if any, religious affiliation), Workman said that she is a strong advocate for property rights, and the LDS Church should get what it paid to own. For the city to now try to restrict the control of a property that the LDS Church paid $8.1 million for is both greedy and irresponsible, she said.

"The city should convey the easement to the church," Workman said. "As long as the city keeps the money it was paid, the church should have the control it paid for. To do otherwise is like having your cake and eating it, too."

---

E-MAIL: jloftin@desnews.com