And one last comment from me. The Church Administration block has been open to the public for decades, and has allowed access through that area. The Main Street Plaza would be the same, allowing the public to walk through the area without a public easement. I do not understand why this is such a big issue with Rocky Anderson.
A CRITIQUE OF THE MAYOR'S PROPOSED TIME, PLACE AND MANNER RESTRICTIONS
- The mayor's proposal does not give the Church what it paid for. The parties to the 1999 transaction did not intend for there to be a free-speech corridor or protester bull pens on Church property, nor did they intend for the police to have to regulate harassment, intimidation, and noise levels on the plaza.
- The mayor's proposal would not protect the peaceful atmosphere of the plaza, on which the Church has insisted from the beginning. Just the opposite:
**************************************************
Letter to Mayor Anderson from H. David Burton, Presiding Bishop
December 6, 2002
To: Honorable Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson, Mayor; David Buhler, Chairman; Carlton J. Christensen, Vice-Chairman; Van Blair Turner; K. Eric Jergensen; Nancy Saxton; Jill Remington Love; and Dale Lambert
VIA HAND DELIVERY
City & County Building
451 South State Street, Rooms 304 & 306
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Dear Mayor Anderson and Council Members:
This community needs your help. There is no question that the segment of Main Street sold to the Church for more than $8 million and developed by the Church into a beautiful mall connecting Temple Square and the Church administrative complex has become something neither the Church nor the city contemplated when they entered into the transaction in April 1999. Instead of a place of peace, the plaza has become a source of controversy and contention.
Ironically, the parties intended just the opposite. They wanted the plaza to be a beautiful place of quietude and contemplation, truly an oasis in the midst of a bustling city. What was intended as an enhancement of the quiet splendor of the Salt Lake Temple has now become a platform for hecklers harassing those visiting the temple, including young couples going there to be married, and a haven for others distributing anti-Church literature, "buttonholing" visitors or simply panhandling. Such behavior undermines the purpose of the plaza in direct contradiction of what the parties intended.
Mayor Anderson has now proposed an ordinance that would regulate the "time, place and manner" of such behavior on the easement. We believe that the Mayor's plan would lead to more - not less - controversy. Essentially, his proposal would codify the very activities on the plaza that the Church finds objectionable. Not only does it expressly permit organized protests and demonstrations in "bull pen" areas at either end of the plaza, but the ordinance also would allow all other forms of speech activity normally permitted on a public sidewalk on the rest of the easement. Sign-carrying, soliciting, street-preaching and even heckling would be permissible along the length and breadth of the easement, provided these activities remained within certain noise levels, did not obstruct the flow of foot traffic and complied with other ordinances regulating speech activities on a city sidewalk. And, realistically, how would these regulations governing an easement across the Church's property be enforced without a constant police presence, not to mention the continuing specter of potential disagreements between Church and city officials over the interpretation of the ordinance? This ordinance carries the seeds of ongoing confrontation, argument and strife - the very antithesis of the plaza. Such a pathway of controversy cannot be the road to peace.
We respectfully submit that there is a way to resolve this perplexing problem: The easement must be extinguished. The Church remains committed to working with the city to find a solution that assures public access to the plaza while keeping it free of contention. In point of fact, the Church has always intended that there be open public access to the plaza - with or without an "easement." As an additional gesture of good will, the Church is willing to agree that there will be no organized missionary proselyting on the plaza. It would be a quiet, welcoming sanctuary to all wishing to savor its serenity.
This matter is a community issue, and it deserves to be resolved by the community. The Church pledges its best efforts to finding such a resolution and invites you, as the elected representatives of the people of this community, to link arms with it in doing so. As always, we express our great appreciation to each and all of you for the service that you render.
Sincerely,
H. David Burton
Presiding Bishop
****************************************
Church Plaza protestors (video clips)
Plaza Incidents Report from Nov 27, 2002 to Nov 30, 2002
Sounds bites from Alan Sullivan, the LDS church's attorney
I guess that you'd have to build some kind of underpass or overpass to get across. Maybe an escalator to the second floor of the building across the street.
What do you all think?