As the LDS Church and Salt Lake City begin revitalizing the downtown area, we hope the First Amendment won't be one of the things that's bulldozed.

Old buildings along South Temple Street, including the Crossroads Mall and ZCMI Center, would be torn down and replaced with modern buildings. The plan is to revitalize the area to make it more attractive to tourists and businesses, as well as to provide protection against urban blight for Temple Square and its surroundings.

While the goal is a worthy one, given Temple Square's status as the state's No. 1 tourist attraction, we hope the effort won't mean that poor people are not welcome.

Brian Barnard, a Salt Lake City civil rights attorney, worries that the downtown revitalization will mean that homeless people and others deemed too scruffy for the gentrified new district will be banished. It's a legitimate concern, and it has precedent. Atlanta's mayor signed an ordinance in 2005 banning beggars near that city's tourist attractions at the behest of businesses that complained. Both Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., banned panhandlers in the more tony sections of those communities.

We've already seen hints of that attitude to some extent here. One of the points of contention when the city sold a block of Main Street to the church was allowing the church to ban panhandlers even though a public easement in place at the time meant that the plaza was a public thoroughfare.

That dispute was settled when the city traded the easement to the church in return for land on the west side for a community center. With the easement gone, the church could restrict the beggars who congregate around Temple Square to the public sidewalks on the periphery. But with the plans to replace the old malls with new retail establishments, it may be tempting for the city, the church and the retailers who will rent spaces in the new project to move the beggars somewhere else, preferably to a lower-rent part of the city and away from the showcase.

After all, few people really believe in helping the poor, even though they profess it vigorously on Sundays. The poor, the homeless, the destitute are an inconvenience to their more affluent American brethren and sisters. Homeless people may be dirty or exhibit personal problems of various kinds. Virtually nobody these days will actually follow the words of Jesus: "... sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor." This is certainly a bad business model. Retail stores are looking for people with money.

So it's going to be interesting to watch. Private property owners can restrict begging on their own property, of course, but public sidewalks are still open for most activities under the First Amendment -- handing out pamphlets, giving speeches or holding a cardboard sign asking people for spare change.

The only restrictions that can be applied deal with viewpoint-neutral matters such as not obstructing traffic or violating noise ordinances. Restrictions must be applied across the board. One cannot legally ban panhandlers while allowing others to hand out fliers for the stores in the new mall, for example.

Rather than banishing the beggars, the city should find ways to address the root of the problem. Working with groups such as the United Way, Salvation Army and other entities, the city should attack the causes of homelessness, such as unemployment, substance abuse and lack of housing.

Banning panhandling will not solve the problem of the poor; it would only move it somewhere else and mar the image of Utahns as a caring people.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A8.