ST. GEORGE — A new survey shows some residents of Springdale are open to denser housing for workers facing the town’s housing crunch. 

On Wednesday, the planning commission will review a workforce-housing overlay zone proposal. The plan would allow higher densities for the development of housing. Tom Dansie, community development director, told St. George News the housing would have to be occupied by people who work in Springdale.

“The preservation of community character is still of paramount importance to the community,” Dansie said. “The survey also demonstrated that the community is aware of an affordable housing problem impacting the local workforce.”

The planning commission will discuss a new overlay zone allowing some properties to increase housing for workers. Dansie said survey results illustrated the community has a “direct desire” to address the lack of affordable for workers through a town housing policy.

“That doesn’t mean that the community’s concerns about density have gone away,” Dansie said. “There remain serious concerns about the impacts of increased density on community character, traffic and views.”

The housing committee has spent the last few months refining the workforce housing overlay zone. Dansie said the committee has combined feedback from the planning commission, the town survey, consultation with subject matter experts and interviews with business owners.

He said the housing committee has also researched other communities’ policies. The committee will present a proposal to the commission for comment. Then the committee will put the input into a final ordinance proposal to bring to the commission for a public hearing.

The proposed workforce housing overlay zone would do the following:

• Allow increased density in a development targeted toward Springdale employees. If developed with rental units, they could contain multifamily units designed at a density of up to 16 units per acre. If developed with ownership units, the development could contain duplex units or a density of 8 units per acre.
• Require at least 75% of the units in the development to be occupied by households actively employed in the Town of Springdale or Zion National Park.
• Require a deed restriction on the units designated for workforce housing to ensure they remain workforce housing units in perpetuity.
• Prohibit the use of any housing units in the development for any kind of commercial use, specifically transient lodging.
• Enact strict enforcement procedures and penalties for violations of the ordinance’s provisions, including renting the units for transient lodging.

The survey also asked some questions about the state of housing in Springdale and if having employees of local businesses live in Springdale would benefit the community. Dansie said the respondents said “overwhelmingly, yes, absolutely.”

Another question asked if the town is obligated to allow affordable housing development for local business employees. Dansie said “overwhelmingly, the community said yes, I agree with that statement.”

“The survey helped the planning commission and the town council to understand that, yes, this is a problem,” Dansie said. “This is an issue that the community recognizes and that we should be addressing.”

The results from the survey can be seen here and filtered to see further details. Dansie said, for example, Springdale is looking at multifamily around 10-14 units per acre for worker’s housing.

In addition to questions about housing in Springdale, the survey presented four potential development scenarios. Dansie said this is a departure from the town’s current low-density, single-family residential development pattern.

Those scenarios include:

• Multifamily.
• Duplex or townhome.
• A tiny home.
• A mixed-use commercial residential.

“I was surprised that of those four different development scenarios, the multifamily option was the one that consistently was was was the most preferred,” Dansie said.

But Dansie said there were some guidelines in the survey for the multifamily options such as a four-plex, six-plex and eight-plex apartments. The survey said these units would be up to 10-14 per acre. The study showed respondents primarily wanted two bedrooms and a smaller option of 700-1,000 square feet.

Mayor Barbara Bruno said she is pleased but not surprised by the housing survey results. Bruno emailed St. George News that people understand the need to make housing available for employees of local businesses.

“Many of those businesses are understaffed, and the lack of housing is contributing to this situation,” Bruno said. “Outside of the obvious economic benefit of having fully-staffed businesses, we can build a stronger sense of community by having a more diverse population in Springdale. I am a member of the housing committee and I support the adoption of a workforce housing overlay zone.”

Those who want to see more survey specifics can filter the results. Dansie said the study shows for example, those who have lived in the area for 20 years or those who don’t live in Springdale but work in Springdale.

“So you can see the different attitudes and reactions from those who responded,” Dansie said.

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