Emery County CRA hears developer pitches, housing‑foundation plan as solar projects promise housing funds

Emery County Community Reinvestment Agency members heard on Jan. 14 presentations from a developer, a solar project representative and a proposed Housing Foundation about ways to deploy housing set‑aside dollars generated by recent renewable energy projects.

Teresa Voxey, chief of staff for R Plus Energies, told the CRA the company's Green River Energy Center project will trigger a 20‑year agreement that "we expect to set aside some $8,000,000 in affordable housing set aside," and said her parent company, The Gardner Group, is willing to partner with the county on multifamily and workforce housing development.

Why it matters: Emery County's CRA has begun to receive increment from utility‑scale solar and storage projects; the board must decide how to use housing set‑aside dollars so funds benefit local residents and the county's workforce as large employers expand.

Developer pitch and local site

McCoy, a landowner and developer who identified a 19‑acre parcel near Orangeville, asked the CRA to consider using CRA funds for main infrastructure — sewer, water, roads, curb and gutter — to enable a 44‑lot subdivision he proposes to phase in. McCoy said he holds 42 water shares tied to the property and that "I've had 30, 40 people reaching out looking for building lots, ready to build." He described a phased approach: a roughly 22‑lot phase one with estimated infrastructure costs he described variously from under $1 million for that phase up to $2.2–3 million for broader work, and a central 1.5‑acre lot that he suggested could host a park or recreation facility.

McCoy said some items remain unresolved: annexation into Orangeville City (he cited Utah Code provisions he has reviewed), a proposed sewer alignment that would cross neighboring parcels (he described verbal easement commitments), and the need for additional water shares or other…