Special Meeting (March 25, 2026) – Resolution R26-010 for Switchpoint Desert Vista Affordable Housing Project
Special Meeting – March 25, 2026: Resolution R26-010 Supporting Switchpoint Desert Vista Affordable Housing
The Mesquite City Council held a special meeting on March 25, 2026, at 2:30 PM to consider Resolution R26-010, which expressed support for the development of the Switchpoint Desert Vista affordable housing project at 780 W. Old Mill Road and 773 W. Mesquite Blvd., and supported the issuance of tax-exempt private activity bonds. The meeting was called on short notice due to a pending pre-application deadline for bond allocations. After significant criticism from council and the public regarding the lack of information and poor communication, the council unanimously voted to table the resolution until proper outreach and documentation could be provided.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Opening public comment (non-agenda): No members of the public came forward.
- Following council discussion, public comment included:
- Barbara Ellis Stad: Expressed appreciation for the council's decision to table the item.
- John Rosen: Criticized Switchpoint for poor communication, stating it created a negative image and would require extra effort to regain community trust.
- Mary Gleason: Requested that when Switchpoint returns, they provide details on the target population (program details, not just physical layout) and support programs to reassure the community.
- Jennifer MacDuff: Raised an unrelated traffic safety concern about the roundabout at the freeway off-ramp near Sunset Greens, requesting a stop sign; staff noted that roundabouts are managed by NDOT and will inquire.
Discussion Items
- Mayor Jess opened with an apology for the rushed meeting and short notice, explaining that a pre-application for the four percent tax-exempt bonds was due the next day and that time sensitivity drove the decision to call the special meeting.
- Jeff Quayle (Chief Real Estate Officer, Friends of Switchpoint Inc.) explained that the project aims to provide workforce housing for earners between $50,000 and $80,000 (50–80% of Area Median Income), not a homeless shelter. He noted Switchpoint has built over 600 affordable housing units in Utah and that a deed restriction could ensure the site never becomes a shelter.
- Council members (Wanless, Fielding, Innis, Gellan, Parish) unanimously expressed strong frustration:
- Councilman Wanless: Stated this was the weakest information ever received; no renderings, floor plans, site plans, or funding details. He criticized the lack of outreach despite the project being known since February and suggested tabling the item to allow proper meetings.
- Councilwoman Fielding: Supported affordable housing but opposed the rushed process. She sought confirmation that the project is not a homeless shelter and said she would hold Switchpoint to that commitment.
- Councilman Innis: Noted that the March 13 tax credit deadline had passed and the next round is in June, questioning why the matter was rushed now. He also criticized the lack of communication, saying it torqued off residents and decision-makers.
- Councilwoman Gellan: Called the timing suspicious, noting the land was purchased in September and that the lack of presentation felt like a bait-and-switch.
- Councilman Parish: Attempted to make a motion to table before public comment, but the city attorney advised following normal procedure to allow public input.
- Jeff Quayle apologized and agreed with the council's concerns, stating he was fine with tabling to allow proper meetings and a development agreement.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to Table: Councilman Wanless moved to table Resolution R26-010 until proper information, presentations, and public outreach are completed. Councilwoman Fielding seconded.
- Vote: The motion passed unanimously (all council members present voted in favor).
- No vote was taken on the resolution itself; it remains pending for a future meeting.
- Next steps: Switchpoint will meet with council members individually and bring full project details (renderings, financials, deed restrictions) to a future meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, all. Welcome to the special meeting for the city of Mesquite, Wednesday, March 25th, 2025 at 2 30. We're gonna get started. It's not an agenda, but let's go do the Pledge of Allegiance, please. Pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. So we are gonna start with our opening public comment period. Um, this public comment period is for things not pertaining to the agenda item. So if you have anything that's not pertaining to the agenda, please come forward. If you have if you want to talk to the agenda, then you will do so at that time. So if you have anything generally to talk about, please come forward. All right. Okay, we're gonna close the opening public comment period. Um so I want to start off. Um, I guess with an apology. Um this was kind of a rush job. Um mostly my fault, and I take full responsibility. I apologize to the council that they weren't informed uh with more time than they did get, as well as the public. We did go to, of course, through their proper noticing procedures according to NRS, but I realize people sometimes like a little more time and a little information than they got on this on this item. Um this is potentially a time sensitive issue, and so that's why I chose to call the public meeting. Um that that's that. I apologize for that part of it and and messing up there, and I hope you'll listen to the presentation with an open mind and forgive me for for messing up on that. Um I'm gonna give a little bit of history of this project. So, probably a year or so ago, gentlemen approached me who's involved in business and was basically like, we need workforce housing and mesquite. We've got a lot of new business, hotels, different things coming into town, and we don't have any place for this income level of people, you know, the the 35 to you know 80,000 earners in our city. We don't have a lot for those people. And so he had a relationship with Switchpoint. Um, as many of you know, Switchpoint has a homeless shelter in St. George and one in Towilla. They also have a bunch of other projects they do. Um, their goal is to start people, and they'll speak to this, but I'm just giving you my part of it. Their goal is to start people from homelessness to single family homeownership, and to help people along every rung of that ladder, whether they come into that ladder in the middle, the beginning, or the end. That that's kind of their goal is to basically make give people a house at whatever income level they are, that they have someplace to live. And so our goal or my goal, um, and I think a lot of us share this goal, is we want something that is nice but affordable for people that have jobs that are trying to make a living, that are trying to survive, that they can have something available. And mesquite, the country in general, that's a really huge problem across the country. So back to the beginning. So I talked to them. We met on a Saturday morning and basically toured mesquite. We looked at the property in question. We looked at the property next to the parking garage. We looked at all the city properties, we looked at other properties throughout the city that were for sale or that I knew potentially you know, people were interested in selling. And they saw this property that they ended up with and said that is perfect. It is close to the schools, it is close to Walmart, it is close to the bus stop. It is a great location for people in this income bracket. And there was a first sale sign on this property at the time. And so they called the agent, the agents says no, it's under contract. So they actually kind of gave up on that piece of property. They looked at another piece of property and went under contract on that.
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