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Sandy City Council workshop narrows housing priorities to 'missing middle' and owner-occupancy focus
Summary
At a Sept. 2 Sandy City Council housing workshop, elected officials prioritized expanding the 'missing middle'—a broader range of housing types between single-family homes and large apartments—and asked staff to pursue tools to encourage owner-occupied units and more housing in the right locations.
At a Sept. 2 housing workshop, Sandy City elected officials directed staff to focus on creating a broader range of housing types and to return with tools to pursue that goal. Facilitator Lynn Pace opened the meeting by saying the session’s aim was to translate earlier educational briefings and an anonymous questionnaire from the eight elected officials into three or four actionable priorities for staff.
Staff member Dustin walked the council through six charts derived from the questionnaire and explained the weighted scoring method used to rank priorities. "Our goal is to encourage housing for residents across all life stages," Dustin said when he presented the draft statement staff had prepared to capture council direction. Council members repeatedly identified the 'd' category — issues related to a broader range of housing types or 'missing middle' housing — as the highest priority on the graphs.
Council discussion clustered around three core priorities: increasing the variety of housing types, increasing the overall supply of housing in appropriate locations, and encouraging owner-occupancy where feasible. Members emphasized that many specific needs — senior housing, starter homes, and smaller units — are subsets of a broader missing-middle strategy and said staff should bring back a menu of implementation options rather than a single mandate.
Facilitator Lynn Pace and staff told members that zoning cannot itself require owner-occupancy, but negotiating tools, incentives and deed restrictions can be pursued when the city negotiates development rights. The council gave staff broad directional support — six members signaled assent with thumbs-up and two gave more tentative support — and staff said they would return with implementable options and timeline estimates at a future workshop.
The next workshop was tentatively scheduled for Oct. 7 so staff can develop a range of tools, including options the council could use in code or in development negotiations. The session closed with standing reports and routine council business before adjournment.
