Councilmember Chris Robinson says the specifics of the Summit County Housing Authority’s strategic plan look good, but he wonders if the county is serious about implementing them.
“I think we're schizophrenic as a county, where we set goals — we want 1,500 units, we want, have all these aspirational things — but then when we come to do them, we say, ‘Well, geez, we don't want any of that,’” Robinson said at the Aug. 5 Summit County Council meeting. “‘We don't want that. That's going to induce growth.’”
The council set the goal of approving 1,500 affordable housing units by the end of 2036 last year.
That number doesn’t include the former Dakota Pacific now Six Ridge Partners project in Kimball Junction or whatever is built on the county-owned Cline Dahle parcel in Jeremy Ranch.
So Summit County hasn’t chipped away at its goal.
The housing authority’s plan, which the council voted 4-1 to approve Aug. 5, has ideas to fix that.
The plan says prefabricated homes, accessory dwelling units and new zoning can increase supply. It suggests the county should buy properties to make them affordable and budget for public-private partnerships annually.
Robinson told his colleagues they should be prepared to receive proposals along those lines.
“I don't think it'll be productive to have the housing authority come back and or other developers and say, ‘Geez, it’s in your strategic plan, you've approved it, and yet you guys don't want to do it,’” Robinson said.
The last time councilmembers rezoned any land was when they approved 12 townhomes on an overgrown Pinebrook tennis court in 2023.
The developer initially proposed 22 units, but the council wouldn’t go for it. Lately, councilmembers have told the owners of Junction Commons that their housing proposal is too large.
Councilmember Canice Harte said he thinks of the housing authority’s strategic plan as a “toolkit” rather than a commitment.
“I'm going to judge each project on its own merits,” Harte said. “And how does that project stand as far as — whether it's code, or whether it's you know a zone or neighborhood plan or whatever — the various factors are that we take into consideration.”
Councilmember Roger Armstrong voted against the housing authority’s strategies.
He reiterated longstanding concerns about out-of-control growth and whether Summit County will be forced to stomach additional market-rate homes to subsidize affordable housing development.
“So by approving this, we're saying, ‘Yes, we want this level of aggressiveness,’ and I will call it that, as it relates to housing,” Armstrong said.
Rezone requests, meanwhile, are stacking up around Kimball Junction.
There is the Cline Dahle proposal, a future commercial center in Silver Creek and potential housing along Rasmussen Road, in addition to the proposed outlet mall redevelopment.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW.
