More than a year ago, Summit County officials set a goal to build 1,500 units of affordable housing by 2036.
The recently approved Crossroads at Silver Creek and Junctions Commons projects will chip away at the goal with a combined 244 units.
That leaves the county 1,256 units short.
In March 2025, the council decided not to include affordable housing units from two significant Snyderville Basin projects. Those are the Six Ridge Partners development in Kimball Junction — Altus — and whatever is built on the county-owned Cline Dahle parcel in Jeremy Ranch.
Councilmember Megan McKenna estimated 480 units have been planned across the two.
Leaving those out could paint an inaccurate picture of progress, said Councilmember Canice Harte.
“What I don’t like about the idea of excluding Altus and anything, is it just doesn’t give us a real look at what’s happening,” Harte said during a Summit County Council housing retreat Oct. 6. “I mean, fundamentally, what I want to know is just what’s out there. What are we trying to build? What do we have on deck? And then go from there and then plan.”
After this year’s housing approvals, Councilmember Chris Robinson said the county is not well positioned to do more soon.
“I think if we really want to do anything in the near term, we've either got to do it with community commercial [zoning], with tons of special exceptions, or we've got to somehow accelerate the timeline for processing a new zone or an overlay,” Robinson said.
The council agreed they would prioritize housing for local essential workers: healthcare employees, emergency responders, teachers and resort operators. But county staff disagreed on how to enforce this.
Harte said he’d like to see a percentage of employees housed, rather than a set number of units approved.
“Fifteen hundred was never the end goal; 1,500 was just a starting number,” Harte said. “We want to get to the percentage of workforce that lives in Summit County, that number could be radically different than 1,500.”
The next housing summit is set for Nov. 13.
