Ogden debating new facility for homeless; proposal draws largely supportive feedback
Dec 5, 2024, 6:00 AM
Ogden officials are debating whether to allow a vacant assisted-living facility, pictured here on Wednesday, to be converted into a 25-unit shelter serving the chronically homeless. (Tim Vandenack, KSL.com)
(Tim Vandenack, KSL.com)
OGDEN — A proposal to assist the chronically homeless population is up for consideration in Ogden, the latest northern Utah community to wrestle with the charged and contentious issue.
So far, at least, it seems to be generating public support.
Weber Housing Authority, a public entity that helps provide affordable housing to those in need, proposes converting a vacant assisted-living facility in Ogden into a 25-unit facility to house the homeless. “The people to be served are chronically homeless, disabled, unaccompanied individuals,” Andi Beadles, the Weber Housing Authority executive director, told the Ogden City Council at a meeting Wednesday night.
Proposals to help the homeless — whether through warming facilities or new shelters — have sparked strong opposition in recent months in Fruit Heights, North Salt Lake and Kaysville in neighboring Davis County. Residents in the locales have variously expressed concern that the proposed facilities would serve as a magnet to more homeless people and that homeless people pose a safety threat.
The issue didn’t spark as intense a backlash when the Ogden City Council took it up at a meeting Wednesday night. In fact, most of the 20-plus people who spoke — including many from agencies and entities that help the homeless — voiced support for the Ogden proposal. Likewise, some City Council members expressed at least tentative backing. Nevertheless, the officials decided not to vote on the resolution granting the Weber Housing Authority permission to proceed with the plans, opting instead to further discuss the matter at a Jan. 7 work session. Formal action is tentatively set for Jan. 14.
City Councilman Shaun Myers said he “strongly” supports the proposal but also spoke of the possible impacts to Ogden. “I still want to express my support for the project, but I also agree that we have some issues as City Council (that) people we need to be informed about,” he said.
As is, some of the homeless people who would be served by the proposed facility are housed in a Weber Human Services building in Ogden. However, that agency — which assists people with mental illnesses, the elderly and others — needs the space for expansion. Others are at scattered locations in Weber County, according to Beadles.
