Glenn Bailey: Salt Lake City must act now to protect low-income renters

The Salt Lake City Council is considering action on two zoning questions of major importance to lower income renters and home owners. Both of these issues have a direct bearing on the gentrification of the city and who gets to continue living here.

First, the proposed rezoning of five rental housing properties at Lincoln Street and 200 South in the East Central neighborhood would set a troubling precedent. The owners want to tear the homes down to build high-rent apartments. The owners say they “might” make some of the new units affordable, but there is no real commitment or definition of what exactly this means.

The Salt Lake City Planning Commission voted a definite “no” on this proposal, and now it is on appeal to the City Council. The Council should say no, too. It is important to preserve these units for several reasons.

One of the most important is that for a long time many of the rentals have been occupied by lower income individuals and families. This housing should be preserved for these lower-income renters who need them in the worst way. The city could even investigate financing the purchase and preservation of the homes under new ownership. Being over 100 years old, the homes have historical significance, something that is disappearing in our city all too quickly.

An even more threatening zoning change before the council is the proposal to expand potential redevelopment in RMF-30 zones, affecting an estimated 5,000 residential parcels across the city. These parcels are mostly in lower and moderate-income neighborhoods. Given the present housing crisis, with its dramatic real estate cost increases, this is a bad time to make it easier to re-develop these properties and put more people at risk of displacement.

Crossroads Urban Center has proposed several zoning policy changes that could offer some protection to lower income residents in the RMF-30 areas in question. The City Council and the mayor should study and adopt the following:

There is more, but the replacement, displacement and inclusionary changes mentioned above would go a long way towards protecting our most vulnerable residents across the city.

The city is in the process of developing an affordable housing overlay policy addressing some of these needs. Reportedly, city staff will be making a presentation on the policy to the Planning Commission in the near future. We also need a “no net loss” policy that truly protects precious low cost housing.

City housing policies and procedures will be far stronger if changes promoting redevelopment in lower-income areas are balanced with meaningful protections for low-income residents. If it takes a few more months to set things up correctly, it will be time well spent.

We strongly urge the City Council to reject the proposed Lincoln Street/200 South redevelopment, and to delay the final consideration of RMF-30 zoning changes until it has more complete, compatible and current housing policies and procedures in place to protect low income housing and the people who depend on it.

Now more than ever, we simply cannot afford to make a bad situation worse for low income households with irresponsible and poorly timed policy changes.

Glenn Bailey is executive director of the Crossroads Urban Center, Salt Lake City.