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Midway Council favors legislative development agreements for workforce housing; staff to draft boilerplate LDA
Summary
Council endorsed using legislative development agreements (LDAs) to secure workforce housing in Midway, emphasized long-term deed restrictions and local-worker targeting, and asked staff to prepare a boilerplate agreement and return project-specific proposals for approval.
The Midway City Council discussed workforce housing policy and agreed Legislative Development Agreements (LDAs) will be the primary tool to secure workforce housing because state law no longer allows municipalities to require workforce units or collect in-lieu fees.
Community Development Director Michael Henke reviewed key policy considerations: deed restriction lengths, income eligibility, rent limits, compliance monitoring, subsidy repayment if affordability expires, developer profit limits, and design/architectural standards. The Council emphasized that each project should be negotiated individually to ensure meaningful long-term affordability.
Council Member Kevin Payne said targeting housing at 60% Area Median Income (AMI) or below better serves teachers, service workers, and entry-level employees than the commonly used 80% AMI standard, which he argued is generally not affordable in Wasatch County. The Council discussed incentives that could be included in LDAs—leasing City-owned municipal and industrial (M&I) water rights, paying or deferring impact and permit fees (with repayment if affordability restrictions lapse), allowing additional residential density, and requiring open-book financial disclosures with reasonable limits on developer profit when public subsidies are provided.
Staff will prepare a boilerplate legislative development agreement outlining standard affordability requirements, incentives, deed restrictions, and repayment provisions. Two initial projects—the 41 West Main Street basement-unit conversion and Midway Mountain Village conceptual redevelopment—will serve as test cases with negotiated LDAs returning to the Council for final approval before proceeding.
