Environmental activists and community members on Sunday joined the ranks of Salt Lake City officials speaking out against a bill that aims to create a self-governing international trade hub in the city’s northwest quadrant.
The National Audubon Society, Westpointe Community Council and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, among other groups, gathered at the state Capitol to protest Senate Bill 234, which many said was being pushed through the Legislature without adequate community input.
Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, on Tuesday introduced the bill, which proposes the creation of an Inland Port Authority that would develop a trade zone in northwest Salt Lake City where goods could circumvent coastal ports of entry to be received and processed.