Housing authorities can create, manage or otherwise promote affordable housing and access to it.
Summit County councilmembers voted to create one Wednesday. The council will determine details and the scope of the authority next year. That includes appointing members to the housing authority’s governing board.
Councilmember Roger Armstrong expressed concerns that the council itself has not adopted a plan or concrete goal for housing.
“It's my usual question,” he said Dec. 11. “We had our meeting at the retreat. We discussed housing; we agreed to start drilling down on needs, locations and some of the more details. Are we putting the cart before the horse? I do think we need a housing authority.”
Click here to read KPCW’s report on the Summit County Council planning retreat.
“I’d say the housing authority would be the perfect body to have the conversation with,” Councilmember Canice Harte said.
Both will be on the next council, along with returning members Tonja Hanson and Chris Robinson. Outgoing Councilmember Malena Stevens will be replaced by Megan McKenna, a Parkite who works for the nonprofit Mountainlands Community Housing Trust.
Councilmembers have differing opinions about who should serve on the housing authority’s governing board.
Harte is against including politicians, although councilmembers regularly serve on water, recreation, fire and other district boards.
“I do think initially it would be nice to have someone from the county council as the liaison,” Vice Chair Hanson said. “At some point, perhaps they can bow out or fade out, as we've done with other situations. Just to get it up and going.”
The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah estimates Summit County has a nearly 1,700-unit housing deficit, but county staff have cast doubt on how up-to-date its data is.
The county previously tried to create a joint housing authority with Park City before efforts stalled this past January. The resolution passed Wednesday states the county would like to collaborate with cities in the future.
Councilors plan to adopt a detailed ordinance governing the housing authority and defining its scope by the end of January 2025.
