When City plans ignore small shops, Sugar House takes a stand.

Small businesses have lined the streets of the Sugar House area of Salt Lake City for decades, establishing themselves as integral pieces of the community. In March 2024, a new construction project began that has frustrated businesses in the 2100 South area, and Bob Campbell, owner of All About Coins, began doing all he could to stop the city from reconstructing this thriving business district.

“When this construction began, it left no parking for my business,” said Campbell. “I have to tell my customers to park on side streets and walk in order to get to our store. In speaking with dozens of business owners in this area, most are not happy with what is happening here.”

When Campbell heard about the new construction plans in 2023, he knew it would affect his business and neighboring businesses dramatically. He had already experienced the effects of ongoing construction in the area that has been hurting small businesses for years. Feeling like he wasn’t being heard, Campbell organized the Sugarhouse Business Alliance in order to combat the city’s plans for continued construction, and giving small businesses a say in the matter.

“I formed the Sugar House Business Alliance to try to help small businesses have a voice,” said Campbell. “Only one out of hundreds of business people said this construction hasn’t affected their business. And that one person hasn’t been affected because his business is mostly online. I wanted to give us all a place to fight for what we want as small businesses.”

Campbell has spent hundreds of hours attending, and in his own words, ‘disrupting’ city meetings, all with the goal to communicate to the city what small businesses in the Sugar House area actually want the area to become. He feels like his opinions and input have been ignored by the mayor and city planners.

“I felt like in every meeting I had with the city, they had already decided without small business input,” said Campbell. “I have felt like the mayor’s office is anti-business. I’ve seen everything she’s been involved in. Her viewpoint of what Salt Lake City is and what it should be is completely different than what most small businesses want.”

Campbell says that one problem that has continually gotten worse in the area is homelessness, and he fears that the construction is exacerbating that problem.

“Businesses have fled from the downtown area because of the homeless situation,” said Campbell. “We have had such an influx of homelessness since the construction began. It seems like the mayor’s office doesn’t want to tell the police to do more than they are currently doing.”

Campbell also feels that 2100 South construction has the potential to lead to unsafe traffic patterns and possibly increase car accidents in the area.

“During construction, they turned the street lights off and it makes it so dark here during the winter,” said Campbell. “This makes it dangerous for people coming to this area. People are also doing U-turns like crazy …  which will end up causing more accidents.”

Aside from the homelessness and the potentially dangerous conditions, Campbell ultimately feels that this construction is simply unwarranted and that, as small businesses, the city is not giving them a voice.

Campbell decided to take matters into his own hands and file a class-action lawsuit in order to help small businesses in the area have a voice. Using the Sugarhouse Business Alliance as a vessel to do so, Campbell began the process of filing this lawsuit two years ago.

“First we had to get an injunction, go through all of their steps, and then it became a class action lawsuit,” said Campbell. “I’ve learned that the city only listens to money. They’ve delayed this construction process and people think it’ll be in its fifth year before it’s even complete. They gave a stipend of $3000 to help cover business expenses, but that means virtually nothing to a business, so I didn’t accept it.”

Through his continuous fights, Campbell claimed a small victory when the city altered construction plans in one area near Elizabeth Street. 

“I call it a win because they allowed access from Elizabeth Street to turn eastbound,” said Campbell. “They didn’t previously allow that, but I fought it and won. It’s a small victory, but that’s where we have to start.”

Campbell plans to continue his fight as a voice for small businesses and is looking forward to the day when the city finishes this project and business can return to normal.

“People are avoiding this area because of the construction, and businesses are suffering because of it,” said Campbell. “Every business up here wants them to finish this construction and leave us alone. That’s the bottom line. Just hurry up and finish and leave us alone.”

Feature Image: Bob Campbell of All About Coins. Photo by Braden Latimer