Density

small town feel, affordable housing

Density, the four letter word with too many letters. Our nation is experiencing a housing shortage and Utah is no exception. Our children are leaving the state because of the high cost of housing. Utah is currently the ninth most expensive state for housing. Eagle Mountain housing prices land right in the middle with our state. We need more housing and our state legislature and governor are demanding that cities be part of the solution. I firmly believe that one size fits all legislation will not solve the problem. Each city is different, with different struggles. Eagle Mountain struggles to keep up with the infrastructure needs for continued rapid growth.

Residents often ask, “Why can’t we stop growth until we get the roads we need?” Sadly, the answer is, we can’t. State law allows temporary moratoriums on development when cities have problems providing water and sewer. The law does not allow us to limit development based on roads. So you see the problem, we have to keep growing, but roads aren’t keeping up. So what do we do? I have been working with the League of Cities and Towns for years fighting the top down demands from the state on growth and will continue to do so. We must actively work with the state to meet our infrastructure needs. Until we have the road and transit infrastructure needed, high density like you see in Lehi and Saratoga Springs would create a traffic nightmare much worse than the one we are currently experiencing. We will continue to be good partners with the state in finding solutions that work for Eagle Mountain.

Growth is inevitable, but we must have the roads and transit to move people efficiently. I have the skills necessary to continue to fight against bad legislation while working on improving our infrastructure. As a result of our work with the state and county, we already have significant improvements coming.

Our future is bright.