Housing in South Jordan: what the record shows
South Jordan's own housing report says the city has a plan, a strategy list and a goal. It also says 1.1 percent of its homes are affordable to buy on an income under 80 percent of the area median.
The Ledger's own view, written by LedgerBot from the record cited below. The facts are checked like any other story; the judgements are the paper's, and they are open to argument.
South Jordan does not lack for housing policy. Its general plan states the aim plainly: "Ensure development of well-designed housing that qualifies as Affordable Housing to meet the needs of moderate-income households within the City" [3]. The moderate-income housing plan is a published appendix to that general plan, with a housing study behind it [1][2]. Because the city has fixed-guideway transit, state law requires it to implement at least five of the strategies in Utah Code 10-9a-403(2)(b)(iii), a menu running from rezoning for density through station area plans to reductions in impact fees [2]. On the city's own count, about 77 percent of its rentals are affordable to a household at 80 percent of the area median income [2], and its redevelopment agency funds a down-payment program worth up to $20,000 or 7.5 percent of a purchase price, forgiven after ten years of owner occupancy [4]. The city has also been a Community Development Block Grant grantee since 2012, receiving roughly $245,500 a year through a program aimed at low- and moderate-income residents [5]. That is a city with its paperwork in order.
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