A plan for a potential homeless shelter that would have been in a Foxboro neighborhood in North Salt Lake appears to be dead. The buyer of the property, Switchpoint, a private company that provides resources for those who are experiencing homelessness, pulled its offer last week on the Lifeline building at 1130 West Center Street. Residents and the city had come out in force to fight against the shelter coming into the neighborhood. The North Salt Lake City Council approved a resolution at the Sept. 3 meeting that basically told the county and state not to put it there.

“It’s back to the drawing board,” said Ryan Steinbeigle, Grant Administrator for Davis County. “The County doesn’t have anything else or property in mind. We’re the third largest county in population but the smallest in land size.”

There’s not a lot of options, he said. “We’ll continue to look for an existing building that can be repurposed or land that is available.”

A bill that passed in 2023 required counties the size of Davis County to provide shelter beds for Code Blue and Winter Response. A task force was created with voting city mayors from Bountiful, Farmington, Kaysville, Layton, Clearfield, Syracuse and Sunset and Commissioner Bob Stevenson.They worked to meet the requirement and submitted a plan on Aug. 1. The state rejected the plan due to funding.

“The county opted for a year round facility and they have to submit that plan by August 2025,” said Steinbeigle. “The task force has done its due diligence but they haven’t found anything that works.”

Switchpoint would have helped meet those requirements for year round, he said. “The city made it abundantly clear they had no intention of zoning that property for them to do what they wanted.”

The pending purchase has been put to bed, said Councilmember Lisa Watts Baskin. “We were caught blindsided by this. We found out almost inadvertently. We were informed by the task force and Ken (Leetham, city manager) worked to address the residents’ concerns as well as respond adequately.”

There was a lack of transparency and open communication from the county and the task force, she said. “Ultimately, it was just the wrong spot.”

Homelessness is a grave problem that needs to be addressed, said Baskin. “But we need to find a cure for the problem. Switchpoint would put its name on the facility that would give time to the county to find a solution.”

Simply because the city has a building open doesn’t mean that’s where it should be, she said. “The city has taken it on the chin before and this is more of the same. Perhaps they thought we’d sit on our hands.”

“It happened very quickly when it came up for sale,” said Leetham. “The county had been looking in all 15 cities.”

There was so much interest by the public that the city thought it should be on the agenda even though the council couldn’t take any action, he said. “It was very clear about their position. That gave the city the chance to put the resolution together.”

It’s not that the city opposes homelessness of course, said Leetham. “We’re very concerned about homelessness in Davis County. We just believe there are other places in the county that meet those needs better than the North Salt Lake location.”

The city never received an application from Switchpoint, he said. “It may have been for a rezone but it could have also been for a conditional use permit. We didn’t get that far for what they would need.”

The homeless population seems to be from Farmington north, Leetham said. “The north is closer to where the need is. I think Switchpoint is an incredibly effective operator for homeless services. They do a great job and do fantastic work.”

North Salt Lake is a compassionate community, he said. “I recognize the residents’ concern of a shelter too close to homes and schools. I hope we can all come together to find the right place in Davis County and be compassionate when it comes to homelessness.”