New South Salt Lake homeless resource center behind schedule
May 3, 2018, 10:31 AM | Updated: 3:27 pm
SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Neighbors of a planned homeless resource center expressed frustration Wednesday, as city leaders held a special meeting to discuss delays in the project that could potential mean missing an important deadline.
If ground isn’t broken on the resource center in June, the deed for the property could revert back to state ownership, city council members learned.
Homeowner Elaine Jones said she received a letter from the county expressing interest in appraising her property to potentially purchase it.
Meanwhile, homeowners surrounding the proposed site on 1000 West near 3400 South said they have been left in limbo with little information from Salt Lake County.
“(Salt Lake County Mayor) Ben McAdams said he was going to do it right and make sure that we were financially sound,” said Elaine Jones, a 56-year resident who is likely facing a move closer to family in West Jordan.
Jones said she had heard very little since that time, until she received a letter on Wednesday from the county expressing interest in appraising her property to potentially purchase it.
“This is the first I’ve heard from the county,” Jones said. “I don’t know. Not knowing is killing all of us. We don’t know.”
During Wednesday’s meeting, officials noted one of the technical issues that have led to the massive delays has been determining where exactly the right-of-way sits versus the property lines on 1000 West.
Homeowners surrounding the proposed site on 1000 West near 3400 South said they have been left in limbo with little information from Salt Lake County.
Jones said she had heard the county lost the map of the area and there was a disagreement of about 6-feet of where the line falls on her property.
She questioned if anybody really knew what all the challenges were to proceeding.
“I don’t think that South Salt Lake kows, I don’t think the county knows,” Jones laughed.
Michelle Schmitt, a spokesperson for the county mayor, stated via text she would have to look into whether the county actually lost the map of the area, but she noted that construction of the resource center was still well in the future, and that the county was “beginning the appraisal process and look(s) forward to working with everyone who wants to sell their property for the appraised fair market value.”
For a resident who has lived in one place for the past 56 years, Jones said it has definitely felt like a long time to start making any progress.
“We can’t go forward, we can’t plan anything, we can’t improve anything, we can’t do anything,” Jones said. “I mean, it’s not good for any of us. We can’t move.”
