Although Heber City Council members said Tuesday they supported 49 affordable housing units planned for southwest Heber, they didn’t approve a request the developer said was needed to move forward.
Mountainlands Community Housing Trust already has a development agreement in place but wants to amend that, saying it can’t afford to finish the project otherwise.
The nonprofit asked the city council for approval to sell 10 units in the future Parkview Place neighborhood at market rate, which would be about $500,000, to generate more profit. The other units would remain restricted to rates classified as affordable, ranging from just under $300,000 to $360,000.
Executive Director Pat Matheson said Mountainlands needs to sell some units at market rate because construction costs for the entire project have spiraled. He said that’s a result of rising materials costs and construction delays.
“Our goal is to create the housing and to be financially feasible on every project,” Matheson said.
14 houses are under construction now. Mountainlands will build more of those, as well as townhomes and duplexes in later phases.
Only three council members voted. Mike Johnston recused himself because his company Summit Engineering worked on the project years ago, and Ryan Stack was absent. That meant all three who were present and did vote would have had to say yes for it to pass, but Rachel Kahler voted no.
Kahler and Mayor Heidi Franco proposed a new idea. She asked Mountainlands to meet with the Wasatch County Housing Authority, which helps people with down payments on homes. Kahler suggested Mountainlands ask the housing authority to focus on helping buyers of the 10 market-rate houses.
Not everyone at the meeting approved of the development. One neighbor complained that trash from the construction site had blown onto his property.
“They wouldn't have the cozy overlay, it wouldn't have multi-family units, if it wasn't affordable,” said Brad Hyatt, another neighbor. “So, to come in on the backside and say, ‘No, sorry, you know, we’ve got to back up,’ it's just another concession that I don't know that is right, in what kind of precedent you're setting going forward with other developers.”
Hyatt agreed that some of the conditions for the homes sold at market rate would be helpful, such as requiring owners to live in their homes or only rent them out for a minimum of six months.
Matheson said Mountainlands would meet with the housing trust before bringing the request back to the council at an unknown future date.
