Embroiled in a brouhaha over beer and Sunday shopping, Smith's has decided to pass on its option to build a store on 18 acres between Cedar Ridge Elementary and Lone Peak High schools. The store was to be the anchor of the northern Utah County city's first commercial district.

Smith's now has other plans.

"We have decided to move forward on some other projects that preclude us from building a store in Cedar Hills," Smith's spokeswoman Marsha Gilford said Tuesday. "We are leaving the door open in Cedar Hills, but for the foreseeable future we are redirecting our energies to these other projects."

Gilford did not specify which projects. She further denied the company was bowing to pressure from the Coalition to Preserve Cedar Hills, a citizens group trying to ban beer sales and Sunday shopping in Cedar Hills.

The controversy "was an issue," Gilford said, "but not the issue."

Smith's has six stores in Utah County, all of which operate on Sunday and sell beer.

City Council members voted last month against proposals to ban beer and Sunday operations. The coalition was formed thereafter, and its members started gathering signatures to put the issue on the ballot - either in November or a June 28 special election - for voters to decide.

Coalition members say Smith's pullout should bolster their cause: no beer or Sabbath sales.

"We do not have a problem with Smith's if they want to operate under those conditions," said coalition chairman Gary Duncan, noting that the group plans to continue with its initiative petition.

Mayor Mike McGee is disappointed by Smith's withdrawal. He opposes placing sweeping restrictions on retailers.

"There's such a thing as free agency," he said. "People have a right to shop where they want, buy what they want to buy and choose where and when they want to buy it."

McGee and others fret about losing the tax revenues a Smith's would generate. They say finding another store is a delay Cedar Hills cannot afford. Incorporated in 1977, the city's population has jumped from 3,000 to 8,000 in the past five years.

"We are still without a grocery store," City Manager Konrad Hildebrandt said. "With the way sales taxes are structured and cities are funded, we have 100 percent leakage to other communities."

Residents now travel to Highland, Pleasant Grove and American Fork to shop.

Duncan, however, says residents will not compromise their standards for a grocery store or tax revenues.

"It's best to establish rules on alcohol sales and the six-day workweek in our community," he said. "Then business will know in advance and any store willing to work with those conditions will be welcome."

Coalition members say at least two other companies have expressed interest in opening a supermarket in Cedar Hills.

lorib@sltrib.com