From the ground up: city constructs housing plan, policy

South Salt Lake City officials are working on a plan to direct the future development of local housing.

During the first Community Conversations workshop -- a free, public meeting held at the Columbus Center on Jan. 4 -- city leaders unveiled plans to create an official housing strategy designed to improve existing neighborhoods and encourage development of attractive housing to bring in residents.

In an address to participants at the workshop, South Salt Lake City Mayor Cherie Wood called the housing plan a “top priority” for the city.

Currently, a significant portion of available housing in South Salt Lake consists of multi-family residential units, or apartment complexes.

South Salt Lake City officials have been working to encourage the development of more single-family homes and owner occupied condominiums with a measure of success.

Last fall, a housing development of single-family homes opened in a neighborhood near the former Granite High School building.

Named Terra Sol, the 60-residential complex was built by Garbett Homes at 3545 South 300 East and billed as “the greenest community in the state of Utah” because it included state of the art energy efficiency technology.

South Salt Lake City Councilmember Irvin Jones cited the Garbett Homes development, which has already sold all of the units, as an example of a recent “success” for the development of local neighborhoods.

City officials are also working to encourage growth in the Central Pointe area, which lays in an area bordered by 2100 South, Interstate 80, Main Street and 300 West.

The early plan for the area would support development of a mixed-use, transit-oriented community to include retail space, restaurants, recreation and as many as 3,000 new residential units.

South Salt Lake City Planning Director Frank Lilly said city officials would be happy to answer questions from residents about the city’s official housing strategy and take public comment.

“Residents have a great opportunity to communicate with [city] leaders,” Lilly said.

The official South Salt Lake City Housing Plan will be drafted over the next few months and unveiled in May.

The housing plan must be approved by the South Salt Lake City Council before it can become public policy.

The South Salt Lake City Housing Plan should be presented to the council for approval this summer.

Residents still have time to get involved in the process. For more information or to provide a public comment, visit the city website.