Utah Legislature creates Fairpark district authority, but west-sider fails to become vice chair

Rocky Mountain Power’s Gadsby Plant backdrops signage promoting the coming redevelopment of parcels around the plant in the Fairpark neighborhood of Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

Though Utah hasn’t secured a Major League Baseball team, the state took an initial step setting the groundwork for a stadium to host it; naming who will govern the area where it will be housed.

With a first meeting from a newly installed authority board, HB562, titled Utah Fairpark Area Investment and Restoration District, is on track to fund about $900 million with different taxes raised only within the district, to help support a stadium in Salt Lake City’s Fairpark neighborhood.

The five-member board — now composed of Salt Lake City Council Chair Victoria Petro, Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton; Cari Fullerton, chief credit officer at Bank of Utah; real estate developer Kem Gardner; and the president of the Westside Coalition, Dan Strong — is structured with Sandall as chair, a vice chair and an initial monthly schedule. 

All members are able to vote. However, a motion to have a west-sider in a leadership role within the authority failed. Salt Lake City Council member Petro argued her insight as a neighbor made her the best for the vice chair role. But, the job ended up going to Fullerton.

“I think I bring a perspective that maybe is fresh. I don’t have any stakeholders in this entire Fairpark. I represent what the state intended, what the legislature intended,” Fullerton said.

Fullerton added that her goal on the board would be to make sure that both the community and the state win. Petro replied that those were the same reasons why she believed she needed to be in that position.

“Winning on the west side, in a historically redlined area, in an area that was described as fallow during the legislative session, requires a keen insight into the neighborhood and the dynamics that are unique to this area,” Petro said. “If traditional economic development practices would have worked for this demographic for this geography, we would not be in the disenfranchised position that we are as a community.”

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Though throughout the approval of HB562, city officials, such as Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said this would be a transformative development for the west side, she had concerns about how the authority would work.

“The creation of an authority in the city or in any city in the state is complicated at best and brings details that are incredibly important to municipal function,” Mendenhall said when the Legislature gave its final nod to the bill in February.

The only other board member who voted to establish Petro as vice chair was Strong, from the Westside Coalition. He argued that though there’s excitement for the investment on the west side, there’s also fear about how a big project will impact the community that has historically been underserved.

“I think it’s really going to be critical to the success of this project and luring the kinds of business interests that we’re hoping to get here, particularly from Major League Baseball, that the people support and feel invested in and feel represented by this body,” Strong said. 

When Fullerton was voted vice chair, Sandall assured that the decision wasn’t meant to demean the voice from the west side.

“This is in essence a collaboration from the state, from outside investment and the people of the west side, and your voice will be heard as loudly as if you had a position of vice chair,” Sandall said.

The authority’s power

The district, also known as UFAIR, is a separate and independent governmental entity and a political subdivision of the state, Robert Rees, an attorney with the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, explained to the board. Their goal is to “encourage and facilitate development within the district to provide economic and other benefits to the area, the region and the state.”

The board can exercise land use authority on state-owned land within the district. It has the power to facilitate development of the land in the district, including an MLB stadium. It would have jurisdiction over development of Fairpark land — in coordination with the State Fairpark Authority. It could also enter into contracts to borrow money and issue bonds. The board can also hire employees and consultants to provide public safety services in the district.

About 65 acres of the district belong to the Larry H. Miller Company, Rees said. That land is subject to Salt Lake City’s land use authority. By Dec. 31, the municipality has to reach an agreement with the district to provide an expedited process of land use application. If a deal is made, the city would provide services to the district, but would also receive a reimbursement for them.

What’s coming

The plans have drawn excitement and skepticism among Salt Lakers. Legislators and developers have promised the project would revitalize North Temple and make substantial public safety improvements.  

Any public funding for the stadium will only be triggered if Larry H. Miller Company manages to acquire an MLB franchise. But regardless, the company has already committed to investing $3.5 billion to redevelop about 100 acres of the Power District — where the stadium is expected to be located.

There isn’t a timeline on when the MLB would make a decision on whether an expansion team would go to Utah. But, Steve Starks, Chief Executive Officer of the Larry H. Miller Company, said they aim to be shovel ready to elevate the state’s prospects.

“Major League Baseball hasn’t given a specific date yet. They’ve said that they have some initial priorities they have to get through first. And so we like to say that we want to be ready, whether it’s one year or whether it’s five years. And so the timing is out of our control,” Starks said. “But I think that we’ve already seen in our market that when we’re prepared, that good things can happen.”

However, the mixed-use development plans are intended to move forward regardless of those baseball aspirations. The company’s vision includes making Salt Lake a “river city” with significant improvements to the Jordan River. 

Also, Amanda Covington, chief corporate affairs officer at Larry H. Miller Company said, in addition to housing, hospitality and retail, the company is thinking about a high school west of Interstate 15, a day care, a grocery store, among others — all highly requested facilities from west-siders.

Covington quoted data from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute about the area to explain why these improvements are important; west-side residents have a life expectancy of 10 years less than their east-side counterparts. They also have the lowest educational attainment and median income than their neighbors in Salt Lake City.

“There is a real opportunity here to create an abundance mentality,” Covington said, “where families can enjoy life and thrive and come back to have their own businesses, potentially work in the back office of a ballpark or in the front office of that team, or to work in a major corporate headquarters that’s right there.”  

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