Summit County has chosen Columbus Pacific Development to create housing, a new fire station and recreation fieldhouse in Jeremy Ranch.
The 30 county-owned acres, about half of them developable, are next to Jeremy Ranch Elementary School and referred to as the Cline Dahle parcel.
The developer’s initial proposal had all 172 housing units deed-restricted for certain incomes. That means renters and owners would need to earn below a certain threshold to qualify for the housing.
Columbus Pacific’s Tony Tyler presented the admittedly “controversial” case Nov. 19 for making the most expensive housing potentially more expensive.
His original proposal had housing for people making anywhere from 30% to 150% of Summit County’s median income, or almost $169,000 for a family of four.
But Tyler acknowledged families making 120% or 150% may not want to buy a home with income restrictions tied to it, since they limit the home’s resale value.
“From a real estate value perspective, investment perspective, the less likely it is that they're going to live here,” he said.
Tyler’s question for the Summit County Council was whether it wants to convert 22 homes for those higher earners from deed restricted to outright market-rate homes.
“Someone that makes $200,000 a year — if they don't already, or want to, live in Summit County and buy into a market-rate product of some kind — they are more likely to purchase a home in Wasatch County or Salt Lake County,” Tyler said.
If he can sell 22 homes at market rate, Tyler says the lower income housing can be that much more affordable.
The council didn’t decide which route was better Nov. 19. Columbus Pacific says it can build the project in whichever manner the county prefers since its bottom line won’t change.
Columbus Pacific has previously experimented with deed restrictions. It is renting out the second phase of Slopeside Village in Canyons Village at the market rate — but tenants must be employed within Summit County.
Since winning the bid to develop the Cline Dahle parcel last summer, Columbus Pacific has been working with some Summit County staff and councilmembers in a private subcommittee.
Speaking with the entire council Nov. 19, Tyler said the next steps are to sign a formal agreement to negotiate and prepare a joint development application next month.
The application would involve a rezone. He proposed a new zone, “NMU-2,” a nod to the existing neighborhood mixed-use zone called NMU-1.
Councilmember Chris Robinson, who is in the subcommittee talks, says creating a new zone is “crucial” for the project’s viability.
He and Tyler agreed that, because any other property owner could apply for the new zone, it should be carefully designed so it couldn’t be abused.
Columbus Pacific Development and Summit County are financial supporters of KPCW.
