On one side - in support of the $550 million redevelopment project proposed by mall owner General Growth Properties - stand most city officials, the Chamber of Commerce and a grass-roots organization named Holladay Citizens United.

On the other - in adamant opposition - newly elected City Councilman Barry Topham, his supporters, and the clout-wielding Utah Taxpayers Association headed up by state Sen. Howard Stephenson.

During the past week, Holladay Citizens United sent a brochure to every Holladay home, warning that General Growth will invest its dollars elsewhere if a $100 million tax subsidy for the project's infrastructure - $52 million of which would come from the Granite School District - gets rejected.

Topham retaliated, sending his own letters to Granite School District, urging its representatives to "save Holladay from itself - or at least from its elected officials."

"From financial, aesthetic, and community-altering viewpoints, I cannot imagine a worse decision being made by elected officials in Holladay," wrote Topham.

In response to Topham's efforts, Mayor Dennis Webb and the rest of the City Council penned their own missive, asserting that district revenue will increase 500 percent once the project is built.

After 20 years, that revenue jumps to a projected $4 million annually for Granite schools. And, the letter points out, General Growth expects to reap only a single-digit rate of return.

City Manager Randy Fitts worries about the halo effect he sees occurring from the dead mall - since September only Macy's has been open for business. "The surrounding business community around the mall is seeing less traffic," Fitts said.

"It's like an old town starting to die."

Boon or boondoggle, the project's fate hangs, in large part, on a school board vote Tuesday.

At Holladay's Redevelopment Agency board meeting last week, a handful of residents spoke out, most in favor of the project and against Topham.

He was particularly challenged by Scott Kiser, a Holladay dentist and project booster.

"What happened here is that you joined the game in the fourth quarter with about a minute to go," he told the newly elected councilman who took office Thursday.

"You decided to be the quarterback and save the day. Where you went wrong is that you didn't know the rules, the playbook or even the score, because you missed most of the game."

According to city records, 47 public meetings have been held about the project since June.

"At the time you wrote letters you said you were speaking for the citizens of Holladay," Kiser continued. "I asked you if you'd been to any of the meetings. You said 'No.' "

Kiser urged Topham to call the Granite School District and tell its officials that he was not well-informed. Applause broke out in council chambers.

Mark Templeton, who opposes the project, feels differently - particularly as far as effect on schools is concerned.

"We're talking about an area of the city that's one of the richest in the county," Templeton said. "We need to ask the city and developer to foot the bill for this RDA - not the school district."

Templeton urged the RDA board to appoint Topham as one of the city's two representatives on the Taxing Entity Committee - thereby guaranteeing a "no" vote that would kill the project - instead of project supporter and former council member Steve Peterson.

At Thursday's session, the board voted unanimously to keep Peterson in that slot for the next 60 to 90 days.

After the RDA session, Topham said he stood by his letters.

"I'm not against the mall, just the density and height of this project," Topham said. "There's a better project that awaits us out there."

Sen. Howard Stephenson, president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, doesn't have any heartburn about developing the property - just diverting tax dollars from schools.

"The city is basically asking the Granite School Board to roll school children under the bus to benefit this high-end development," Stephenson said Friday.

"This is prime property, and the marketplace will fill it appropriately."

cmckitrick@sltrib.com

Cottonwood Mall's proposed

$550 million redevelopment project would have:

* 57 acres

* 534 residential units

* 700,000 square feet of retail space

* 100,000 square feet of office space

* A maximum building height of 90 feet

Adjusting the tax picture

The proposed redevelopment project would include $100 million tax subsidy over 20 years to install infrastructure, including the rerouting of Big Cottonwood Creek, lifting 40 acres out of the flood plain, and building new roads and bridges.

The taxing entities - Salt Lake County, Holladay, the Granite School District and minor taxing districts - are being asked to forgo 75 percent of new property tax revenue generated by the project. Granite's share: $52 million.

Holladay would also commit 50 percent of its point-of-sale sales-tax revenue from the project over 20 years.

What Granite School District would get if the project budget is approved:

* Now, $171,000 each year

* Once the project gets built, $905,000 each year

* After 20 years, $4 million each year