Mayor Rocky Anderson said his staff is working on an ordinance to ban chain stores and "formula" restaurants in areas like 9th and 9th, 15th and 15th, 300 South downtown and parts of Sugar House.

And in a separate move, the City Council tonight will discuss a proposal by Councilwoman Jill Remington Love to create an ordinance that would allow chains but prevent them from bringing cookie-cutter architecture into those areas.

Other potential areas include 1300 South and 1700 East, 2100 South and 2100 East, and the Kmart property at 2705 Parley's Way when it is redeveloped.

"It's about design compatibility and preserving what's already good about Salt Lake," Love said Monday.

Anderson said Love's ordinance wouldn't go far enough.

"I don't care what kind of facade Starbucks has; we ought to be promoting more local businesses rather than category killers and big boxes," he said. "I've been in McDonald's with a nice facade in the front. They're still McDonald's."

Still, some of the city's own small-business draws do sport chains. There are Starbucks at 9th and 9th and 15th and 15th, which also includes an Einstein Bros Bagel. Anderson said his ordinance would grandfather them in.

While Love said her immediate goal isn't to limit chain stores, she would be open to the mayor's ideas - if city attorneys determine it is doable. For now, focusing on chain-store design is the "easy fruit on the tree," she said.

And the city has been slow to pick that fruit.

Anderson said he was interested in banning chains since he entered office in 2000. He's now requested planners to expedite the ordinance. Love said she's wanted to seek her ordinance for at least three years.

Other cities have successfully limited chain stores. According to City Council staff research, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., prohibits chain fast-food restaurants. Sanibel, Fla., bans chain restaurants. Coronado, Calif., limits chain retail and restaurants - an ordinance upheld by a California appeals court in 2003.

Other options to promote local businesses include expediting the permit process for independent shops and limiting building sizes.

Salt Lake City has recently been immersed in a conversation about neighborhood preservation and local-versus-chain shops because of changes planned for Sugar House.

Several local stores on the block bounded by 2100 South, Highland Drive, Sugarmont Drive and McClelland Street have received eviction notices. The old Granite Furniture building and its neighbors will eventually be demolished to make way for condos, retail and offices. Local shop owners don't expect to be able to afford the rent.

Love said her ordinance proposal comes too late to address that problem. It could take six months to a year for it to work its way through the city bureaucracy.

"I'm not in any way doing it to slow down that project," she said.

Anderson said his ordinance could apply to the Granite Furniture block, though it would depend on when the ordinance is passed.

"This is not anti-development. It's actually pro-development. It's providing and preserving those kinds of places that attract huge numbers of people and also provide what a lot of residents want to have in their neighborhoods," the mayor said.

Ellen Reddick, president of the Vest Pocket Business Coalition that promotes local businesses, said small-business owners are "very, very interested" in both proposals.

"The big chains can definitely hurt unique businesses. They also bring attention to the fact we offer a higher level of service," she said. "What's happening right now in Sugar House is waking people up to the value of the eclectic, unique community we have with local businesses."

She wishes the city had promoted their ideas long before Sugar House sounded the alarm.

hmay@sltrib.com