FILE - Due to the high cost of apartments and houses, Salt Lake City officials are asking residents for ideas on how to solve the housing shortage. .
HERRIMAN – Salt Lake’s County Council has put aside concerns from four mayors as it approved high-density zoning for housing north of Herriman.
Like his counterparts in Herriman, Copperton and West Jordan, Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs is upset.
“Why on earth the County Council seems to think that they need to have that kind of density all locked into such a small footprint is just beyond me,” Staggs said.
Councilmembers approved zoning for “Olympia” with 8,700 townhomes and apartments on 930 acres for 30,000 people. That calculates to 32 people living on each acre.
By comparison, Daybreak near South Jordan has much lower density. It has 20,000 residents living on 4,100 acres, or about nine people per acre.
“You have that many homes situated right next to Herriman, South Jordan and Riverton that are all going to invariably going to flow through 12600 South, when we already have failing roads and other infrastructure issues,” Staggs said.
The county council cited a severe statewide housing shortage behind its approval.