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- Ogden leaders reject a homeless facility proposal, opting for neighborhood revitalization.
- Weber Housing Authority must find a new site for the homeless facility.
- Concerns persist over Ogden's disproportionate burden in addressing Weber County's homelessness.
OGDEN — With the decision by Ogden leaders to pursue neighborhood revitalization efforts on a site where a facility for the chronically homeless had once been proposed, Weber Housing Authority's search for a location will continue — now outside the city.
It's a setback to long-standing efforts by the nonprofit organization to secure a site for long-term housing for the chronically disabled and homeless. Concern among some city leaders that Ogden bears a disproportionate burden in caring for Weber County's homeless figured in Tuesday's Ogden City Council action, culminating debate dating back to late last year.
"A location outside of Ogden is difficult because the resources are in Ogden and the homeless population is in Ogden. I am optimistic that we can move quickly and identify something that will work, however," Andi Beadles, the Weber Housing Authority executive director, said in a statement.
Moreover, the turn of events puts on public display concerns frequently voiced over the years by some in Ogden that other Weber County cities don't do enough to assist the homeless or low-income residents. During discussion on the issue, Councilwoman Marcia White noted the lack of housing projects geared to low-income people in Weber County that are outside Ogden.
"Not one in North Ogden, not one in Marriott-Slaterville, not one in Plain City, very few in Farr West, very few in Roy, very few in South Ogden," she said.
Likewise, Mayor Ben Nadolski alluded to difficulties in working with leaders from other Weber County locales via the Weber Area Council of Governments, a coalition of local leaders, in addressing the need for low-income housing. Ogden is the largest of 15 locales in Weber County.
It's been a struggle "because we can't get support and help from other cities in the county to help resolve the housing problems," he said. "And we can't do it by ourselves, yet everyone continues to put the pressure on us as though we hold the cards to everything in this entire county. We don't."
The mayor referenced moves in the Salt Lake County area to expand housing options for the homeless outside Salt Lake City, where they have traditionally been concentrated. The "old model" of concentrating housing for the homeless where services are located "is not the model that's working elsewhere," Nadolski said.
As for the old Aspen Care Center location in Ogden's older core neighborhood — the preferred site of the proposed facility for the chronically homeless and disabled — it is now earmarked for development into housing. Instead of granting Weber Housing Authority permission to pursue its plans, the City Council voted to acquire the site from the organization for $2.2 million. The one-acre parcel will be developed into housing — single-family homes or townhomes, possibly — under the auspices of Ogden's Quality Neighborhoods Initiative, meant to "stabilize and revitalize" city neighborhoods. The Aspen Care Center building would be razed.
Concerns among some that allowing the Weber Housing Authority project to proceed would represent a step back in efforts to bolster the fortunes of the aging neighborhood factored in the debate. White noted city efforts in recent years to build new homes in the area to replace older housing and a relatively new school in the neighborhood.
"We're seeing the fruits of that, and this is a neighborhood where it really needs some love and help," she said.
Councilwoman Angela Choberka, for her part, wonders how Weber County will address the issue of the chronically homeless going forward "because there's nowhere else in the county to house them, which is a shame." She backed the Weber Housing Authority plans.
Beadles, meantime, said she and the Weber Housing Authority will begin anew, probably resuming the search for a site in the next few weeks. They'll maintain the vision of creating a single facility to assist the chronically homeless and disabled population rather than spreading them to scattered housing units, as is currently the case.
"We've needed a resolution to this and we can now begin to move forward. It wasn't the outcome that we had hoped for, but we'll make the best of it," she said.
