Religious Interests in Community Conflict: Beyond the Culture Wars

Chapter 8: Salt Lake City’s Main Street Plaza Controversy

h 173 Chapter 8 Salt Lake City’s Main Street Plaza Controversy J. Quin Monson & Kara L. Norman During the past several years, an enormous conflict erupted not only in Salt Lake City but also across the entire state of Utah over the sale of a block of Main Street in Salt Lake City to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterwday Saints (Mormons).1 The conflict began after a block of Main Street located between the two city blocks owned by the LDS Church was closed and transformed into a pedesw w trian plaza. The newly owned LDS Plaza sat between two blocks of particular importance to the LDS Church. One block houses the Salt Lake Temple and Tabernacle and the other contains the LDS Church Administration Building. Because Utah’s population is approximately twowthirds Morw w mon, the LDS Church and its members are significant players in Utah politics. The controversy and conflict over the sale of Main Street to the LDS Church may accurately be characterized as one of the most divisive and rancorous disputes to occur along reliw w gious lines in Utah over the last several decades. The disagreew w ments effectively split the city and state along its religious and cultural divisions. Although the sale of the plaza was controversial, the controversy flared on October 9, 2002, when the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver voided some of the restrictions that the LDS Church had placed on behavior on the recently opened plaza. Immediately after the court’s decision, protestors began to appear on the plaza, and the LDS Church called on the city to relinquish the public easement2 on the property so that the church could resume 174 Salt Lake City's Main Street Plaza Controversy the enforcement of behavioral restrictions and stop the protesting. The controversy escalated in December 2002 when Mayor Rocky Anderson announced that a compromise agreement had been negotiated that would result in the easement being sold to the LDS Church. The protestors stepped up their tactics, and word of the protesting, City Council deliberations, and other related activities dominated local news and opinion pages for several weeks. During the December 17, 2002, public hearings regarding Mayor Anderson’s announcement that the easement would be sold to the church, prow w testors maintained their position and vowed to continue protesting on the plaza regardless of the consequences. Salt Lake citizens also expressed their disappointment in Mayor Anderson; many people openly denounced the mayor and said they would not support him in future elections (Salt Lake City Council Public Hearings 2002). Even the best attempts to settle the controversy surrounding Main Street could not eliminate all of the hard feelings and completely heal the community division. This chapter presents an inwdepth case study of the Main Street Plaza conflict resolution process that investigates the roles played by the various religious and secular interests involved in the conw w troversy and how they interacted to produce a solution. First, we provide a brief overview of the religious and cultural divisions that exist in Utah and Salt Lake City using exit poll data from the 2003 Salt Lake City mayoral election. Second, we demonstrate that while Salt Lake City and the state of Utah share some characteristics, imporw w tant differences also make the dynamics of religion and politics in Salt Lake City differ greatly from those we would observe statewide. Specifically, Mormons comprise a large majority of the state’s popuw w lation but actually make up a smaller proportion of Salt Lake City’s population.3 Third, we provide a detailed explanation of the events surrounding the Main Street Plaza controversy and the reasons behind its resolution. We find that because the heart of the controw w versy involved religious groups, nonreligious actors including Salt Lake City Mayor Anderson and the Alliance for Unity, a civic organiw w zation established (prior to the controversy) to bridge the religious and cultural divide that exits in Salt Lake City and Utah between Mormons and nonwMormons, played a critical role in bringing about a compromise solution. Finally, we link the Main Street Plaza case to existing theories on religion and community conflict resolution and elaborate on what our case can add to these theories. J. Quin Monson & Kara L. Norman 175 Data and Methods We utilize a variety of quantitative and qualitative data sources. These include a comprehensive analysis of journalists’ accounts...