Note to readers: As a community-funded paper, The Salt Lake Tribune has chronicled Utah’s housing crisis for years, but also looks to find solutions. In this series of stories, “Building Options,” we’ll look to outline the issue and why it matters, but also how a state program is showing signs of chipping away at the affordability crisis.
When Evolve Utah was looking to build in Vernal’s downtown, the city initially suggested town homes, Wesley Zufelt said.
Zufelt, one of the Springville-based development company’s owners, and his partners suggested a mixed-use project with commercial space on the ground floor and homes on the upper levels.
“We just felt it was the best of both worlds,” he said.
But, at the time, Vernal’s city code didn’t all for such construction, so the city created and enacted a mixed-use ordinance in 2021, and expanded it to allow buildings to cover more of a property the following year.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Wesley Zufelt, center, owner and realtor of Evolve Real Estate & Management in Springville is joined by his partners Joe Wilkins, left, and Collin Brinkerhoff as they talk about a project about to break ground in Vernal called Jurassic/Raptor Heights, Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
City Manager Quinn Bennion said the new code isn’t “earth-shattering” for Provo or Salt Lake but is “a pretty big step” for a rural community like Vernal.
It can be unusual for cities to get involved in housing, he added, but the housing market is in a spot where local officials “have to think about helping accelerate growth.”
Allowing for mixed-use development, along with a revitalized of downtown, led to twin projects in Vernal.
Jurassic Heights and Raptor Heights will both have 10,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and 18 residential units on the upper floors.
A rendering of Jurassic Heights, a mixed-use development planned for Vernal. Another development called Raptor Heights will have the same design.
Zufelt said 14 of the condos – priced in the low-to-mid-$300,000s – sold in three weeks and most of the commercial spaces have tenants.
But while the city removed some barriers, he said, funding is still a hurdle because banks are reluctant.
“Every bank just says, ‘No, it’s Vernal. We’ve been burned in Vernal in the last two decades,‘” Zufelt said.
Banks’ hesitation is based on some real things, Bennion said, namely “a lot of boom and bust” because of the Uintah Basin’s heavy reliance on the oil and gas industry for employment.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Quinn Bennion, City Manager for Vernal City, talks about the public improvement projects that have been completed to help draw people in to a more lively downtown, Monday, February. 24, 2025.
But Vernal and other tertiary markets are “where growth needs to happen right now,” Zufelt said.
Land is less expensive there, he said, and the fees cities charge for permits and impacts on public infrastructure are “much, much lower.”
It also matters that Vernal is embracing change and growth, Zufelt said.
“It’s honestly vital to the success of any city, regardless of your size,” he said. “If your fees and red tape become too mired, it stifles everything.”
Bennion said it’s unusual for cities to get involved in housing but the market is in such a position that local officials have to think about helping accelerate growth.
Vernal did that through strategies that are part of Utah’s moderate-income housing program, he said, including the mixed-use ordinance, an overlay to allow smaller homes in some areas and using grant funds to incentivize the development of lofts downtown.
Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position. The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.