Under the proposal, the district would work with YMCA and Mercy Housing to turn vacant district-owned land into 100-200 affordable housing units. The school district’s Board of Education met with the two nonprofits for a preliminary conversation June 16.
Kuhl Brown from Mercy Housing said some units could be set aside for district teachers and other staff. The nonprofit previously worked with five school districts in Palo Alto, California on workforce housing.
“We've had several of these district conversations, and especially high-cost markets where there is teacher retention, staff retention issues based on housing criteria and/or extremely long commute times,” he said.
The partnership would also include a regional hub for YMCA’s community services.
Rich West from YMCA said he’s been a Park City resident for over 30 years and understands local needs. He said despite expansions in preschool, after-school and athletics opportunities, there is still room to grow.
Board Vice President Nick Hill said the conversation grew organically and is conceptual at this stage.
“The board, I think, is very interested in what we may be able to do to support community needs in that space that we own,” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” June 19.
The development would be on a portion of 55 acres of district land in the Trailside area, just off Highland Drive next to US Highway 40.
The parcel would likely need to be rezoned to allow the development. It’s currently zoned as rural residential, which allows the construction of new single-family homes and limits density to one unit per 20 acres.
The district already partners with YMCA by providing space at schools for summer camps.
If the board decides to move forward with a partnership, Brown said Mercy would start with a formal community needs assessment and market research study.
