Summit County needs 7,600 homes. Its housing plan aims for 1,500.

Photo: Brandon Griggs

As the county drafts its first strategic housing plan, advocates warn the lowest-income residents could be left behind

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah — Summit County faced a housing shortfall of about 7,600 units as of early 2025 and needs roughly 600 additional units per year over the next decade to support its workforce and projected growth, according to a draft Housing Authority strategic plan that casts the county’s current 1,500-unit affordable-housing goal as only a starting point.

That gap framed much of the Housing Authority’s discussion Monday as board members reviewed the draft plan and weighed whether it should go further — not only in how it measures progress toward the 1,500-unit target, but in whether it should address deeper affordability, homelessness prevention, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing.

The draft plan targets households earning 30% to 120% of the area median income, with a particular focus on 40% to 80% AMI. In Summit County, HUD’s current income limits put 80% AMI at $72,950 for a one-person household and $104,200 for a four-person household.

During public comment, Jen O’Brien, executive director of Summit County Clubhouse, urged the authority to consider residents at the lowest income levels and those whose housing needs do not fit inside a traditional workforce-housing frame. She said many clubhouse members fall between 10% and 40% of AMI, are working, and remain severely cost-burdened and priced out of the current market.

O’Brien asked the authority to add implementation detail for deeply affordable housing, especially at or below 50% AMI, and to address transitional housing for people leaving inpatient psychiatric care, substance-use treatment, incarceration, or homelessness. She also asked the authority to name the housing needs of people living with mental illness and substance use disorders, arguing that stable housing at lower income levels often depends on what happens after move-in.

Other community voices pushed in a similar direction. Heather Hogue, Mountainland Continuum of Care project coordinator, said any goals related to eviction prevention, rapid rehousing, transitional housing, or permanent supportive housing should be designed to meet HUD and other federal definitions so they qualify for funding. It is easier to create programs that fit existing funding models, she said, than to build them first and try to retrofit them later.

Board members cautioned that the Housing Authority should stay focused on helping build housing — through zoning assistance, land-use coordination, and approvals — while nonprofit partners handle the services tied to deeply affordable or supportive housing. That discussion also surfaced the need for clearer public-facing tracking so residents can see what counts toward the 1,500-unit goal and how much progress is being made.

The Summit County Council created the Housing Authority in December 2024 and expanded the board from five to seven members in May 2025. In March, the authority held a public housing-and-transportation event as part of a broader effort to shape public understanding of the issue.

The draft plan and community partners both acknowledged Monday that the housing gap is much larger than the authority’s 10-year target, and that the first version of the plan may need to be clearer about who could be left out if the county focuses too narrowly on conventional workforce-housing bands.

The strategic plan and the authority’s annual update are expected to go before the Summit County Council in June.