Why Utah has yet to officially receive Salt Lake City’s Smith Entertainment Group plan

SALT LAKE CITY — It has almost been a month since Salt Lake City leaders voted unanimously to Smith Entertainment Group’s downtown revitalization plan to create a “sports, entertainment, culture and convention” district surrounding a remodeled Delta Center for the NBA’s Utah Jazz and the NHL’s Utah Hockey Club.

That July 9 vote should have triggered a 30-day window for the Revitalization Zone Committee, a five-member state commission set up to give final approval before the Sept. 1 deadline outlined in state code. However, as of Thursday, the commission has not yet scheduled a meeting for when it will vote on the measure and its members say the commission has not officially received the document, either.

So what’s the holdup?

Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, a member of the Revitalization Zone Committee and sponsor of the bill that set up the whole process, explained on X on Thursday the two sides agreed to delay the formal 30-day process until “we could all be in town for the meeting.”

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall told reporters — minutes after the City Council vote — she expected the measure would be formally sent to the state the following day. Had that happened, the state committee would have had to approve the agreement or send it back to the city with notes on any changes by this week.

The problem is many city and state leaders were already scheduled to go to Paris shortly after the vote, where they made their final pitch to lock down Salt Lake City’s bid to host the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics to the International Olympic Committee. Mendenhall and at least two members of the committee traveled to Paris with a delegation that only returned recently.

Between that and other arrangements across the board, both sides quickly realized there wasn’t much time for the state to review the document.

Andrew Wittenberg, a spokesman for the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, confirmed the two sides agreed to coordinate when the document would be submitted to begin the 30-day window. He told KSL.com it would likely be sent early next week, but declined to offer additional details.

“We’ve been coordinating with the legislative committee on the timing for the city to formally submit the agreement, as it triggers other next steps and obligations,” he added, in a prepared statement.

It’s unclear exactly when the state committee will meet, but McCay said it would be sometime “before the statutory deadline.”

Of course, the Revitalization Zone Committee’s decision isn’t the last step in the process. Whether it approves the agreement with no changes or sends it back with edits, the Salt Lake City Council would have to vote to finalize the deal by Sept. 1.

The City Council has two meetings this month, one on Tuesday and another Aug. 27 — five days before the deadline. It already scheduled a public hearing for proposed zoning changes tied to the plan on Tuesday, but it could make a final decision on Aug. 27 if the state committee has weighed in by then.

The City Council would also have to vote on a proposed 0.5% sales tax increase tied to the plan, which would go toward the repayment of up to $900 million in bonds that Smith Entertainment Group plans to acquire to pay for the project. The agreement states $525 million of the bond would go toward arena renovations, while the rest would go toward other aspects of the plan like a new parking garage and plaza east of the arena.

In return, the company, which owns the Utah Jazz and the Utah Hockey Club, agreed to add a new ticket fee that would go toward a city account to help pay for affordable housing projects. The city would also receive other benefits, including new internships, shadowing and apprenticeship programs for high school and college students; more youth programming; and free/subsidized tickets for Salt Lake City-based community organizations.

City leaders would have to vote by the end of the year to approve any zoning changes, which could increase the maximum building heights in the area to 600 feet among other changes. While that’s 150 feet taller than any existing building in the city, the City Council lifted its maximum height requirements for the heart of downtown — an area east of the arena district — last year.