NORTH SALT LAKE—Residents in a North Salt Lake neighborhood packed City Hall Sept. 30 for a special meeting on the proposed homeless shelter campus located at 2520 N. 2200 West in Salt Lake City that borders North Salt Lake. The facility will provide approximately 1,300 beds and provide services for the homeless population.

The meeting was intended to give the public the opportunity to express their concerns and ask questions of Utah Homelessness Coordinator Wayne Niederhauser who was in attendance.

“The state has contracted with Salt Lake to purchase the 15.85 acre property,” he said. “The closing date will be after the legislative session. The legislature has to weigh in before construction and development can begin.”

In the last homeless count done in January there were 4,584 people in Utah experiencing homelessness, said Niederhauser. “That’s a 19% increase over last year. What is driving that is basically the price of housing. It’s gone up significantly in Utah over the last five years and the income has not kept up. People are finding themselves in homelessness.”

People are staying in shelters longer and it’s harder to get services to match up with them, he said. “We passed a bill three or four years ago to create task forces in Davis, Utah, Salt Lake, Weber and Washington Counties to address homelessness in their counties to provide winter beds. We do research to assess the need. Last year we sent a letter to Salt Lake County asking them to provide an additional 1,300 beds. That shows what’s needed.”

The need is there, Niederhauser said. “We need a place for people to be sheltered. A temporary situation is unsustainable.”

Niederhauser said he’s looked for several years to find a property to not only provide a shelter but to provide services they need. “We don’t want to just put people in housing without the support they need.”

It will be a 365 day, 24/7 operation, he said. “People can come get shelter and get the basics of food and clothing and get services at the same time.”

Niederhauser said their top priority is public safety. “We’ll have a lot of security inside but we want the surrounding community to be safe also so we’re proposing $4 million for the public safety around the shelter campus. It’s an important element.”

Residents expressed frustration and concern for their safety. “Have you had homeless people in your backyard?” one woman said. “Until you’ve had the homeless in your backyard you don’t know what it’s like.”

Sugarhouse was destroyed by Salt Lake, she said. “I have a little toddler who looked out the window and witnessed a stabbing. A homicide. One homeless person killed another. You really don’t know what it’s like. You’ve probably never felt unsafe in your life.”

“I live three houses from the proposed site,” said another woman. “I also teach at Foxboro Elementary so this topic is very near and dear to my heart. This decision affects my family, my students and the entire community.”

Direction matters, she said. “The nearest gas station, the nearest grocery store, the nearest bus stop are here in Foxboro. Without reliable transportation to take people back into the city they’ll absolutely be walking this way into our neighborhoods.”

They’re not all dangerous but some are, she said. “We can’t gamble with our children’s safety.”

“We’ll have internal security and externally will be a public safety response,” said Niederhauser. “I believe based on what we’ve been doing it’s going to be a very safe place for the community around it with the right kind of resources for public safety.”

The meeting had a hard stop at an hour but those in attendance had more questions. Niederhauser told them there would be future meetings to answer questions.

 “Please engage and send your comments to the Homelessness Commission,” said Niederhauser. “We’ve selected the site as the campus but there are still things that need to happen.”

Niederhauser encouraged the residents to go to https://homelesscampus.utah.gov/ for the latest updates and information.