Sandy City Council Housing Workshop Series – Workshop Two: Where Are We Now? - July 22, 2025

The Sandy City Council held its second community housing workshop on July 22, 2025, from 5:15 PM to 7:36 PM. The meeting featured presentations from a developer, a regional planning agency, and a policy institute, followed by public comment and council discussion. The workshop is part of a four-part series aimed at developing an actionable plan to address housing affordability and accessibility in Sandy.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Pat Jones thanked the council for the workshop series and recommended inviting Mike Carey as a presenter. She raised concerns about the Alta Canyon Sports Center rebuild, citing utilization data (1,827 members, 72,830 annual visits) and cost escalation from $11.3 million to an estimated $23.5 million. She questioned whether the project was justified without a citywide vote and whether promised donations and grants would cover costs.
• Mike Carey requested an opportunity to present at a future housing workshop. He questioned the growth projections used to justify state housing policy, noting that predicted high growth had not materialized and that nearly 15,000 homes were currently on the market in Utah. He highlighted the need to consider job growth and demographic realignment of school boundaries.
• Cathy Spuck spoke about the impact of federal stormwater detention requirements on housing development costs and capital gains tax burdens on single homeowners. She suggested the federal government should provide assistance and urged the council to advocate with state and federal legislators.
• Deb Sussman urged the council to consider housing options beyond apartments and condos, such as tiny homes and accessory dwelling units on existing lots. She noted restrictive regulations in Sandy’s planning code (e.g., requirement to build a two-car garage when converting a garage to a bedroom) and advocated for more flexibility.

Discussion Items

• Lee Dial (Cowboy Partners/Cowboy Properties) presented a developer’s perspective on barriers to affordable housing. He reviewed cost factors: interest rates (10-year Treasury near 4.5%), high construction costs (still elevated post-pandemic), land costs (housing price surge since 2020), holding costs (time and money during entitlement), and connection/impact fees. He discussed investor returns tied to treasury rates and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. Dial emphasized that cities can assist through RDA financing, land write-downs, fee waivers, streamlined permitting, and purposefully planning affordable units. In Q&A, council members asked about deed restrictions, the effectiveness of incentives (Dial cautioned against giving away incentives without affordability agreements), and the difficulty of building for-sale affordable housing due to financing and liability issues.
• Megan Padjen (Wasatch Front Regional Council) presented the Wasatch Choice Vision 2050, which integrates transportation and land use. She highlighted four key strategies: transportation choices, housing options, parks and public spaces, and city/town centers. She discussed the housing-transportation cost burden (industry standard: 30% income on housing, 15% on transportation, total 45%) and showed that Sandy’s combined cost is just under 45%. She noted that 6,000 housing units in Sandy are within half a mile of transit stations. She then focused on obstacles to building condos, including insurance costs, financing challenges (pre-sale requirements), liability risks, and stigma. She argued that condos can help fill the missing middle and provide market entry for renters (87% of Utah renters cannot afford median home).
• Djan Eskic (Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute) presented demographic and housing market data. He reviewed Utah’s population growth (never below zero since 1950) and the coming demographic wave of Gen Z households. He projected a need for 270,000 new housing units statewide by 2033, with 81,000 in Salt Lake County. He showed that Sandy’s median home price has plateaued around $600,000–$650,000, and the price-to-income ratio rose from 4.3 in 2019 to 5.7 in 2023. Monthly mortgage payments doubled from $1,500 to $3,000 due to higher interest rates. Only 3% of homes sold in Sandy in 2024 were affordable to households at 80% AMI. He emphasized that housing affordability is best controlled during entitlement and that smaller home sizes correlate with lower prices.

Key Outcomes

• Next Steps for Workshop Series: City Attorney Lynn Pace outlined the process for the remaining two workshops. Staff will compile a list of potential housing issues/topics (e.g., affordable housing, senior housing, owner-occupied housing, starter homes, missing middle) and send it to all eight council members for feedback and ranking. The ranked priorities will be discussed at the next workshop on September 2, 2025, where the council will provide policy direction. Staff will then develop tactics based on that direction.
• Meeting Schedule Adjustment: The council will need to amend its annual meeting schedule to reinstate the September 2nd meeting (previously canceled) to accommodate the next housing workshop.
• Council Member Business: Council Member Stroud reported on the Public Works Fleet Building ribbon cutting and ongoing Alta Canyon design meetings. Council Member Sharkey noted the positive community response to the Farmers Market and Food Truck Night, and the use of RSL game tickets to acknowledge the Sandy Youth Council.
• CAO Report: Chief Administrative Officer Shane Pace reported that Fire Station 31 construction is on schedule for an October ribbon cutting, and that Dave Poulsen’s retirement farewell would occur later that week.

Adjournment

The council adjourned the meeting at 7:36 PM.