The bulldozers at a housing site for chronically homeless seniors in West Valley City haven't made much progress in the last four months — and neither has a group of residents who want the project to go elsewhere.
More than 40 residents, including school-age children, crowded a Salt Lake County Housing Authority meeting Wednesday to protest the project, but after almost an hour of public comment, residents left the meeting feeling unheard and "dismissed."
"It's like, 'Get out of here. We're done,"' said Tanya Talbot, a West Valley resident who lives near the proposed project. "That makes me mad."
Only five chairs were set up for the audience of the well-attended public meeting, one of many where residents have come to persuade the housing authority to change its plans. Residents are concerned that the housing project will bring more crime to the area.
That's especially frightening to residents because the apartments are slated to be built on 3120 S. 3600 West, which is in the path of the "safe route" neighborhood children use to walk to school. One resident said if the project is finished, schools in the area already are considering revoking the "safe" status of the route, which could require additional buses for the area.
"What we're really after is to make it safe for our kids, and that's the bottom line," said resident Jason Jones. "The assertions that (potential residents) are going to turn into sweet grandma and grandpa is just ludicrous. ... They've had a longer life on the street, a longer life of lawlessness and a longer struggle with substance abuse. If anything, they're more dangerous than the general homeless population."
Housing authority executive director Kerry Bate disagrees.
"I think it's really easy to stereotype homeless people and chronically homeless people and call up images of people who have dealt with substance abuse issues who are out of control," Bate said. "But that's not fair to the people we would serve, and it's not fair to homeless people."
Last year, the housing authority received more than $5 million in federal grants to build the housing project at that location, but stalled construction has forced the authority to return the money. The housing authority will have to reapply for the same funds in October, but Bate says it's still not likely that the site for the project will change.
"I haven't seen any compelling reason why senior housing shouldn't be built on that site," Bate said. "Lots of housing projects cause a lot of controversy, and once they're built and people are living there, then the neighbors find out that it's really not so bad."
Bate says the housing authority is considering contracting night, weekend and holiday security at the site through the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, as well as providing surveillance cameras and employees at the site around the clock. A resident from the neighborhood has been selected to be the property manager.
It's also possible that alcohol could be banned from the facility, but that's not probable, Bate said. The housing authority is willing to negotiate such mitigating factors, but in return, Bate says the authority would want residents' support.
And that's not likely to happen soon.
"We plan to protest every step of the way," Jones said. "Every building inspector that comes out, every plat, every requirement that they have to meet, we're going to make sure every 'i' is dotted and every 't' is crossed. ... If it can happen in our neighborhood, it can happen in any neighborhood."
E-mail: achoate@desnews.com