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WEST VALLEY CITY — There's a lot of talk about a shortage of housing in Salt Lake County, especially affordable housing. West Valley City is looking to bring hundreds of new apartments and townhomes to the city, but it has some residents concerned.
The city is proposing to build an upscale, mixed-use housing complex near 4100 South and Redwood Road. The development would sit on just over 13 acres and include 430 apartments, 21 townhomes and a plethora of new businesses.
The area is currently home to an old Kmart building that has been sitting vacant for more than a year.
Utah is one of the fastest growing states in the nation, but a shortage of housing and rising home prices make it hard for people to find affordable housing.
The proposed development is not considered affordable housing, but West Valley City's Redevelopment Agency Director Mark Nord said that's not what the city needs.
"Frankly, we have more than our share of affordable housing in West Valley City. We want to push the envelope a little bit," Nord said. "We feel like there's people who want to live in West Valley City that don't just want to have affordable housing. They want something a little bit nicer as well."
Some residents, like David Baker, are concerned about packing that many more people in a small space.
"With traffic and schools and noise and pollution, we just really worry that another high-density apartment complex would just put that much more pressure on our area," he said.
Baker has lived in West Valley City for 35 years. He would rather see more single-family homes or, even better, a park. Baker isn't necessarily against the project, he just has more questions.
More on Utah housing:
Population growth creating apartment affordability crisis in Utah
Utah's growing economy comes at a cost: As more people move to Utah, apartment prices are rising faster than wages."We get one shot at this and we want to do it right," he said. "We just want what's best for this area. This is the area we live in."
A public meeting with the planning commission was held Wednesday afternoon. The commission is reviewing the concept and if they like it, they'll send it on to the City Council for their approval.
