Written by Dallas Hyland
Springdale has a conundrum on its hands.
“The council has not yet officially rescinded the ordinance but will hold a public comment session and vote on the issue July 7. Statements by both the council and the town’s attorney suggest that the repeal has been all but officially decided.”
The ordinance was presumably to maintain the intimate, small-town vibe and keep it from becoming too commercial. Encourage the “buy local” ethic, you know?
So no McDonald’s. No Subway.
But what about all the chain hotels?
Perhaps it was less about the commerce clause when it came to the individuals who lawyered up and sued Springdale into submission as it was the glaring hypocrisy.
And to belabor an obvious point, this state in particular is a clanging gong for the absolute autonomy the free market should rightfully enjoy. In essence, this was a case wherein a local municipality was forced to walk that talk.
Careful what you ask for, right?
Clamor for free market enterprise enough, and eventually someone says, “Hey, this applies to all of us right?”
But I digress.
I agree with the town on this one. I don’t want any chain of anything there at all. I want to see local business benefiting from local and tourist money. And apparently, I am not entirely alone on this.
As I pen this little quip, I am in Ojai, California, which is a town that has successfully kept chain restaurants out, and it is better for it, I think. But they keep it all out. Hence, no hypocrisy.
I get it. Free enterprise, that is. But it is painfully ironic that chain businesses are antithetical to the rugged individualism and free-market enterprise Americans pride themselves for.
Think about it.
See you out there.
Dallas Hyland is a freelance writer, award-winning photographer, and documentary filmmaker. As a senior writer, opinion editor, and photo editor of The Southern Utah Independent, Hyland’s investigative journalism, opinion columns, and photo essays have ranged in topics from local political and environmental issues to drug trafficking in Utah as well as the international front, covering issues such as human trafficking in Colombia. On his rare off-days, he can be found with his family and friends exploring the pristine outdoors. You can listen to him live as a regular guest co-host on the Kate Dalley talk show on Fox News 1450 AM 93.1 FM in southern Utah.
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