Utah official: Downtown homeless shelter won't meet June closing deadline

Utah official: Downtown homeless shelter won't meet June closing deadline

(Jeffrey D. Allred, KSL, FIle)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Despite a state-mandated deadline in legislation that funded a systematic overhaul of Utah's homeless system, the Road Home's downtown shelter won't shut down on time.

Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed the delay Wednesday while giving a progress update to the Pioneer Park Coalition, a group of local business leaders that have long lobbied for changes in Salt Lake City's Rio Grande neighborhood.

"It's just a matter of math and logistics," Cox told the group gathered in a conference room at the Utah Transit Authority headquarters, as he broke the news that "unfortunately, yes," the downtown shelter is currently behind its state-mandated deadline to close by June 30.

The reason? The South Salt Lake homeless resource center — which got a late start on construction after a hold-up on city permits — is behind schedule by a few months.

As the largest of the three centers currently being built, the 300-bed men's shelter must finish before the downtown shelter can close, Cox said.

"Logistically it's just impossible without those 300 beds to move people out," Cox said.

"We're not happy that it was extended," Cox added, noting "there was a lot of back and forth" with South Salt Lake over permitting issues.

"But I will tell you we are working very closely with (Shelter the Homeless, the shelters' owners) and the builders to see if we can't move that date up," Cox said. "We're trying to get it into August so we're not far past the deadline."


We're trying to get it into August so we're not far past the deadline.

–Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox


Shelter the Homeless and state leaders acknowledged late last year a delay could be possible — perhaps if weather or construction complications occurred — but hadn't yet called for an extension. But Wednesday, amid what has so far been a snowy winter, Cox warned the missed deadline was looking probable.

The June 30 hard closure date for the downtown shelter was set by the Utah Legislature within a law passed in 2017 to put $20 million in state funds toward construction of the three new homeless resource centers.

While the law specifies the June deadline, it does not lay out specific consequences or ramifications if the deadline is missed. However, the state's Homeless Coordinating Committee, chaired by Cox, is in control of distributing homeless funds to providers throughout the state.

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