Draper City Mayor Troy Walker has offered up two potential locations in his city for a third homeless shelter/resource center. Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams must select a final location by Thursday. He now has nine sites to choose from.
Salt Lake County hosted what was supposed to be a final open house Monday night for residents who wanted to provide feedback on sites selected so far. Now, another open house has been scheduled for Wednesday evening at Draper City Hall.
The two Draper sites are in remote parts of the valley away from residential neighborhoods. One is on the property of the Utah State Prison. The other is just south of the prison on the east side of I-15. McAdams says neither location is near public transit or other community amenities.
“However, this is located in a part of the valley that is developing rapidly,” McAdams says.” And in a few short years we’ll have much of what we’ll need. And with the support of a community that says, we can do this, we can overcome many of the hurdles we might face.”
McAdams says Draper Mayor Troy Walker made the offer late last week. This comes as mayors in West Valley City and South Salt Lake push back on proposals to locate a shelter in their cities. Mayor Walker says he wants to be part of the solution.
“My community is a service-oriented community,” Walker says. “For decades, members of my community have served in the Utah State Prison. They’ve provided religious services and other services to inmates both in the facility and transitioning out. We’re the kind of folks that roll our sleeves up and go to work to help people.”
The two sites are located in Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes district. Hughes championed efforts at the Utah Legislature this year to fund new shelters. Hughes said in a statement he’s willing to accept whatever locations are selected and remains committed to solving the homelessness crisis.
