The findings of a fiscal impact report regarding a potential mixed-use and residential development anchored by Smith’s Marketplace were presented to officials and the public at large during a meeting of the Hooper City Council Thursday night.

The proposed development — located near 5500 South 4700 West — would include a 123,000-square-foot Smith’s Marketplace store and adjoining fuel center, multiple retail pads for other businesses (restaurants, a financial institution, et al.) and 117 residential units, including 11 quarter-acre lots, 16 half-acre lots and 90 townhomes/condos.

LRB Public Finance Advisors conducted the fiscal impact report following the presentation of development plans by Bret Wahlen of Anderson Wahlen & Associates during a Hooper City Planning Commission meeting last August.

Hooper Mayor Sheri Bingham told the Standard-Examiner that residents currently have to travel to places like Roy, Clinton and West Point, or farther, for groceries, dining or even to fill up their gas tanks. She believes this development would give them more local options while keeping sales tax and other revenues in the city.

“I’ve lived in Hooper all my life and, growing up, we had a grocery store in Hooper,” Bingham said. “We had a grocery store, we had a little — it was called Montgomery’s Ranch House. It was a little hamburger shop that sold shakes that were really good. … We had several gas stations and then there was another little store that was over on 4000 South that was really quite small, but still had enough. Over the years, those places closed down and we’ve really had nothing.”

As it stands, Hooper’s general plan, which was adopted in 2022, calls for commercial development along 5500 South.

The fiscal impact report indicates that the proposed development would benefit the city, county and state in terms of revenue, with Smith’s Marketplace and other retail tenants generating a projected $40.8 million annually in taxable sales. Between sales tax, property tax, municipal energy tax and other revenues, the analysis projects a net fiscal impact of $7.7 million for Hooper through the year 2049.

Meanwhile, the net positive impact at the county and state level is $1.8 million and $11.9 million, respectively.

The report assumes the creation of a community reinvestment area for the project and the use of tax increment financing. Bingham says that the tax increment would help fund the necessary infrastructure, including a sewer lift station on the east side of the city, which would support future development.

Bingham understands that Hooper’s residents appreciate the rural lifestyle and topography and that some may oppose development. However, she maintains that proactive city planning is essential to preserving that way of life.

“We can plan Hooper to have it like we want it and then we’re in charge or we wait until it’s too late and something is pushed upon us and then we don’t have a say,” she said. “Let’s plan it so it still fits in the rural life of Hooper but it’s something that we need to sustain our city.”

Development plans target 2027 for the start of construction, which would run through 2031; the expectation is that construction on Smith’s Marketplace would be completed near the end of 2028.

The full fiscal impact report is viewable within Thursday’s city council agenda packet at https://www.hoopercity.gov/meetings/.