Acknowledgements
This document was prepared with the help and assistance of many
organizations who serve, or have an interest in meeting the needs of all members
of our community. Our thanks go to the following organizations:
Brigham Young University
Center for Women and Children in Crisis
City of Provo
Community Action Agency
Housing Services of Utah Valley
Mountainland Association of Governments
Neighborhood Housing Services
The Daily Harold
The Food and Care Coalition
The Housing Authority of Utah County
The Housing Authority of Provo City
The United Way of Utah County
Utah County Board of Realtors
Utah County Commissioners
Utah County Home Builders Association
Utah Housing Finance Agency
State of Utah
Wastach Mental Health
Our thanks go to the following individuals, who spent countless hours doing
research during the preparation of this document:
Mr. Andy Hall, Mountainland Association of Governments
Mr. Austin Seargent, Bureau of Business and Economic Research
Mr. Brent Bluth, Provo City Redevelopment Agency
Mr. Brent Crane, Food and Care Coalition
Mr. Clark Swenson, Utah County Aids Association
Mr. Doug Carlson, Provo City Housing Authority
Mr. Doug Gail, Wasatch Mental Health
Ms. Elizabeth Beus, Staff Intern; Provo City Redevelopment Agency
Mr. Gene Carley, Utah Housing Authority
Mr. George Deemus, Alcohol Treatment Center, SLC
Mr. George Usher, Utah State Health Department
Mr. James Wood, Bureau of Business and Economic Research
Ms. Kim Miller, The Center for Women and Children in Crisis
Ms. Myla Dutton, Community Action Agency
Mr. Ott Damron, Consultant and survey team
Mi. Ron Madsen, Provo City Redevelopment Agency
Mr. Scott Gerber, Alcohol Treatment Center, Utah County
Ms. Susan Knadler, The Center for Women and Children in Crisis
Mr. Kurt Leffler, Leffler and Associates
Mr. John Anderson, State of Utah
Mr. Konrad Hildebrandt, City of Orem
This document is a public record. Copies are available for review at The
Provo City Redevelopment Agency.
HOUSING AND COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT NEEDS
Housing and Homeless Needs Assessment
The rapid growth in Utah County over the past five years has left the
consortium with significant housing shortages. Vacancy rates have dropped below
two percent throughout the consortium cities, and projected growth rates indicate that the housing
shortage will worsen before it levels out at a more comfortable level.
The increased shortage in housing has left many low-income residents
homeless, or at risk of homelessness. The Consolidated Plan categorizes
low-income households according to the area median family income (MFI), in order to deter-mine the extent of
their housing needs. The four categories identified in the CP are: Extremely
Low-Income (ELI), or households earning between 0-30 percent MFI; Low-Income, or households earning between 31-50 percent Nff 1; Moderate-Income (MI), or households earning
between 51-80 percent MFI; and Middle-Income (Mdl), or households earning
between 81-95 percent MFI. The Consolidated Plan will focus primarily on the three income groups
earning less than 80 percent NEI.
Based on the housing and homeless needs assessment, it appears that the
group of people at greatest risk of homelessness are the working poor. Because of the
extreme growth in the consortium cities, the working poor find it extremely
difficult to compete with the suddenly more competitive work force. People
moving in from "high wage" states are generally more able to pay a higher mortgage or rental rate, forcing these
rates higher than is affordable to the working poor populous. Available housing
is extremely difficult to find and generally far exceeds the affordability of
the lower income households. As a result, the problems with homelessness in
Utah Valley Consortium have increased significantly since 1993. This will continue to be a priority concern through FY95-96.
Housing Market Analysis
Much of the housing stock of the Consortium is in the form of multi-unit
dwellings. This is especially true in Provo City. Provo City is the home of
Brigham Young University (BYU), and a large percentage of the population are students from BYU or Utah
Valley State College (UVSC), in Orem. Rental prices differ greatly depending on whether
the tenant is a student or not. Rents for students are typically much higher
than those for the non-student population.
Single family homes are more prominent in the higher-income areas of Provo
City, and throughout the rest of the consortium. Overall, single family unit
housing is priced above the NIFI earners affordable housing range. This is due
to the extremely low vacancy rates, and growing demand in a booming economy. We
expect housing prices to continue to exceed affordability until the housing crunch is softened.
The quality of housing is generally very good. The consortium does not
report large areas of slum or blight; nor does it have large areas with
extremely high concentrations of racial minorities. Current programs will focus
on continuing the high quality status, which the consortium now enjoys.
The overall market situation throughout the consortium is characterized by
growth and expansion. Though this growing economic situation provides
opportunities for many people, it poses difficult problems for others. Recognizing the effects of the
growth is one of the purposes of the Consolidated Plan. We hope to ensure that
at least those facing the most difficult times will have their housing needs
met.
HOUSING AND COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
The Strategic Plan outlines the consortium five-year plan to combat and/or
address the housing and homeless situation. Based on our analysis, priority has
been given to the extremely low-income households, transitional and emergency
housing service providers, and victims of abuse or domestic violence. Inherent in the transitional and
emergency housing services is a continuum of care program, which serves to help
homeless families
achieve self-sufficiency. Such services will also continue to receive
priority with available funding over the forecast period.
In addition to the general low-income households, priority will be given to
persons with special needs, such as the disabled and elderly. Because of the
nature of the special needs category, we expect this segment of the population
to grow proportionate to the overall population.
The plan also identified what will be needed in the next three to five years
for infrastructure and non-housing community development needs. With the
explosive growth in the
consortium areas, much of the infrastructure in the cities is being pushed
to the limit. New infrastructure is needed as well as replacement of aging
infrastructure.
ONE-YEAR ACTION PLAN
The Action plan outlines the plans for FY95-96 to combat and/or address the
housing and homeless situation in Utah Valley Consortium. Furthermore, the
Action Plan outlines the
uses of the Federal Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME program,
and the
Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) program. Again, priority will be given to the
low-income
and/or special needs population in all of the programs outlined in the plan.
The Action Plan also outlines those resources available, both federal and
non-federal, that will be used in the next year to address housing and non-housing issues. This section also identifies those organizations who will
administer many of the social service programs and
the services available to the citizens of the consortium.
Summary
Again, the overall goal of the Consolidated Plan is to develop viable urban
communities by providing decent housing and suitable living environment and
expanding economic opportunities principally for low- and moderate-income persons.
Utah Valley Consortium will achieve this consolidated goal by working
together with
community service providers - both nonprofit and for-profit - to identify
needs, and provide affordable housing opportunities for low-income residents, as
well as to provide economic opportunities to low-income areas.
Activities to be Undertaken
Within the next year, there will be a variety of programs and projects
undertaken by not
only the cities in the consortium, but also the cooperative effort between
nonprofits and social service providers will produce a number of projects. The
projects to be undertaken
will fall in three categories and are defined as follows: Housing, homeless,
and non-housing community development. Those activities will be outlined
respectively. Orem City's
activities are listed in their Action Plan which is a part of this document.
Housing rehabilitation continues to be a major effort by most of the cities
within the consortium. HOME dollars will be used extensively throughout the
consortium to
accomplish this objective. All cities within the consortium have active
rehab programs and will include projects to correct code violation to providing
infrastructure in conjunction with the rehabilitation of the residence. These
funds will also be used to help overcrowding situations when encountered.
Several cities and UCHA provide emergency rehabilitation and weatherization for
homeowners. This activity continues to provide an essential service to those
individuals who might fall through the gap and not receive any service because
of
their situation, such as the elderly.
Provo City also operates an active rehabilitation program funded with HOME,
CDBG, and a
non-federal source of funds. The rehabilitation program is operated by a
revolving loan
system and continues to provide an average of forty loans a year to
residents. The City also operates a rental rehabilitation revolving loan fund
that is the program income from the federal RRP.
Both the Provo City and Utah County Housing Authority are involved in the
rehabilitation of their public housing units. PCHA is in the final year of
spending is Comprehensive Grant and
will have rehabed all of its 250 units. UCHA has will complete the
rehabilitation of all of its units this year with CIAP money. UCHA will also
complete the rehabilitation of five home
they purchased last year with HOME funds. Both housing authorities are
active in the development of new affordable housing units. PCHA will start and
complete construction of eight-plex unit this year. UCHA will also start the
construction of three duplex units for the elderly. These units will be
scattered throughout the consortium in several cities. Please refer to the
proposed projects section and projects map for location detail. PCHA also has a
discretionary grant that will be used in the NHS neighborhood to develop single
family
homes and promote Homeownership.
A local CHDO, Community Action Agency, will purchase multi unit complexes to
convert
and rehabilitate them and place them on the market as affordable rental
units. A four plex
unit purchased by Community Action with '92 HOME funds will be completely
rehabilitated
and completed this year and will be used as transitional housing.
Homeownership is becoming less available to residents in the consortium
cities. One of the CHDOs in the jurisdiction, Housing Services of Utah Valley,
will start a first time
homebuyers program with HOME program funds that is expected to be available
in all of the consortium cities. The recapture rules and resale restrictions
are listed in the Program Specific Requirements section of this document.
Acquisition of existing units and land to build units will be a vital
element in maintaining affordable housing. As mentioned in the body of this
document, the current economic
situation is changing the market of available unit and land to purchase.
All housing
providers will actively be searching to acquire resources for affordable
housing before the
cost prohibits them from doing so. This activity will also include an
active development role taken by the cities, the housing authorities, nonprofits, social service providers, and for profit groups.
Emergency Shelter Grant funds will be passed through to three local nonprofit service
providers who are vital in providing services to the homeless. The majority
of funds will be used to provide housing vouchers to shelter the homeless in one
of several local motels.
Other funds will be used to assist in the operation of two local shelters.
The City of Orem has little or no problem with the traditional homelessness.
This broad statement is due to the lack of data available. The City of Orem is
currently working closely with the Community Action Agency to accumulate
additional
homeless numbers and special needs. Therefore, very little funds have been
set
aside for the purpose of helping the homeless. In addition, no current
projects are being organized for individuals with HIV/AIDS, because of the lack
of people with
this affliction in the area. If, in the future, this becomes a problem
within the City of Orem, it will be addressed at that time.
(Please refer to the Utah County Consortium Consolidated Plan, Section V.
for further details).
Geographic Distribution
Three areas in the Consortium have been targeted for assistance in 1995.
Two of those neighborhoods are located in the City of Orem. These two
neighborhoods are the Geneva 1 neighborhood and the Sharon I neighborhood. Each
one of these will receive assistance at separate times. Geneva I neighborhood
is receiving
priority assistance at this time. Upon its completion, Sharon I will
receive priority assistance. Orem has committed HOME funds and CDBG funds to
service these neighborhoods. Sharon I and Geneva I are among several of the
neighborhoods
which Orem has chosen to target over the next three to five years. All of
the neighborhoods which will receive future funding are identified as having
significant need for assistance.
Maps
MAP 1 depicts points of interest in the jurisdiction.
MAP 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.
MAP 3 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels.
MAP 4 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and unemployment levels.
MAP 5 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects; in addition: a table provides information about the project(s).
MAP 6 depicts neighborhood streets and proposed HUD funded projects, as described in the table under MAP 5.
To comment on Utah Valley's Consolidated Plan, please contact:
Mr. Ron Madsen, Director
Provo City Redevelopment Agency
40 South 100 West, Suite 100
Provo, Utah 84601
(801) 379-6160
Mr. Brent Bluth, Executive Director
Utah Valley Consortium of Cities and County
40 South 100 West, Suite 100
Provo, Utah 84601
(801) 379-6160
Return to Utah's Consolidated Plans.
