Latest news with #WeberCounty
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Weber County School District considering tax increase
WEBER COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — The Weber County School District held a special meeting today, May 30, to consider possible future tax hikes. The district held a meeting on the topic this week — local officials saying they may need to raise taxes in order to maximize state funding. The district's business administrator highlighted the need to keep up with covering their expenses, including teacher salaries. 'I think to be prudent with making sure that we are keeping up with our expenses of the district as different things come up, you know, within capital and safety,' Weber County School District Business Administrator Brock Mitchell stated. 'And then our educators' salaries.' These tax hikes are not yet final, according to Mitchell. Local officials also said it's possible the tax increase could be enacted incrementally, instead of all at once. 'Every year, the county changes their rates, and what they're guaranteeing you is the same amount of tax revenue as the previous year, plus any new growth in the area,' Mitchell said. 'That's why these rates change, and they decrease — because as a district, we chose over time not to raise those rates and essentially stay with the new revenue that was generated because of the new growth in the county.' That's the reason there was no need, until two years ago, to raise tax rates, Mitchell said. The next meeting by the Weber County School District Board will take place on June 11, which will be a budget hearing. All meetings start at 6 p.m. and are located at the Weber School District Office, 5320 Adams Avenue Parkway, Ogden. A full list of upcoming meetings is available here. South Jordan man apprehended after fleeing from traffic stop, shelter in place order lifted Cedar City man arrested for allegedly sending sexual photos to officer posing as 12-year-old Charges filed against Utah man who allegedly messaged missing 15-year-old before her disappearance Weber County School District considering tax increase Hill Air Force Base's Mazer Chapel reopens after 2 years of renovations Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Starter condos? Here's Utah's new plan to get more affordable housing built
Last year, Utah launched Gov. Spencer Cox's novel plan, making some $300 million in public funds available for low-interest loans to encourage developers to build more affordable homes for first-time buyers. But just $10.7 million has been transferred from the fund, in February for a Nilson Homes project just outside Plain City, Weber County, according to the Utah State Treasurer's office. The first dozen of what eventually will be 275 homes priced below $450,000 have been built and sold. It's a slow start toward meeting the governor's goal of 35,000 more starter homes by 2028. So the 2025 Legislature quietly made a change to the program that allows for a new type of affordable housing in addition to the traditional single-family house to be built with money from the funds set aside. Starter condominiums. 'They're the natural entry point into the housing market,' said Steve Waldrip, a former state lawmaker and the first to fill the recently created role of senior adviser for housing strategy and innovation to the governor. The apartment-like, multistory housing can be much less expensive than a single-family home and, Waldrip said, allow developers to take advantage of smaller and odd-sized lots, particularly around public transit stations. 'The governor has been very vocal about wanting single-family homes to be the priority of the administration. So we've done and are doing things in that arena. But there are places where you just can't do that,' he said. Say there's 2 acres available to develop. Instead of building just a couple of houses, Waldrip said, 'you could do 50 condos, or 100 condos. You get ownership in both instances. But because of the volume benefit of the condo process, they come a lot cheaper.' Although many communities have balked at high-density development, he said they 'are much more amenable to condos than apartments because you have that ownership component. It provides much more housing stability.' In Utah and the rest of the country, though, there's been little interest in building lower-priced condos for years because of costly insurance and regulatory issues, he said. Such projects are seen as offering a lower reward for a much higher financial risk than building apartments. Utah lawmakers have taken steps to remove some of the roadblocks but there's more to be done. Last session's legislation also extended the availability of funding for building starter homes and now condos for an additional year, until 2028. Waldrip said the state is working to create a Utah-specific construction defects insurance policy to counter premiums that can be four times higher for condo than apartment development because of regional pricing. While that might take more legislation, he doesn't see it as a 'show-stopper' for the administration's new push for starter condos, especially since a larger financing issue was resolved by allowing the nonprofit Utah Housing Corporation to make loans, just as banks have. That change in the law, slipped into a larger housing bill after being successfully pitched to the Legislature's closed-door caucuses last session, is a way around federal regulations requiring 50% of a condo project to be sold before FHA loans that first-time buyers rely on are available. 'We're just talking about taking some of the risk away from condo development,' Waldrip said. 'What have we been building? Apartments. We've been building apartment after apartment after apartment. ... We have all these built-in disincentives to creating condos.' So will that be enough to get apartment developers to shift to condos? Waldrip believes it is. He said the changes being made to the starter home program are in response to a developer who came to the state for help making the switch, Tom Henriod, a partner in the Holladay-based Rockworth Companies that develops projects throughout the West. 'That was the beginning of the discussion of how to create this condo project,' Waldrip said. Henriod's detailed proposal from late last year for 'Advancing Affordable Condominium Development in Utah' fills the front and back of a single sheet of paper. It spells out that the supply of affordable homes 'is nearly nonexistent,' so more and more households remain renters. There's also a warning about the '(w)idening wealth gap between owners and renters fostering greater class distinction, discord between classes and increased risk of societal unrest,' noting that the government's solution is usually to subsidize rental units for low-income residents. 'We're not trying to be alarmist ... but we mean it,' Henriod said, making a point to single out that statement in his proposal. 'We need people to feel like they have ownership in their community, literally.' Condo units could be built for $350,000 or less and sold at or near cost to lower-income buyers, Henriod said. Developers would be paid a yet-to-be determined fee of maybe 10% of the project's overall cost, he said, similar to what they get for building subsidized apartments. What's not sustainable in his mind is continuing to build multifamily housing only for renters. 'There should be a large contingent of it that's for sale,' said Henriod, who has built thousands of apartment units over the years. 'This idea is really borne from that thought, that we need more for-sale housing at smaller purchase prices, period.' But his last condo project, near Trolley Square in Salt Lake City, was some 15 years ago. The challenges of building multiple units sold to individual buyers versus an apartment complex with a single owner are just too steep for developers, Henriod said. 'I've got better tax options if I do apartments. I've got liability issues that exist with the condos that don't exist with apartments. It's so much easier for me to get financing and I don't have to worry about figuring out how my buyers of all these individual condos can get financing,' he said. Those issues have led developers to say 'why bother' building something sold as a 'box in the air' with a fractional interest in shared parts of a building, Henriod said. 'It's tough. It's super tough. There's a lot of reasons why no one has been doing this.' A mortgage payment on an affordable condo may actually be a little less than the nearly $2,000 typical rent for a two-bedroom apartment, he said, allowing the owner to build equity estimated to be valued at $158,000 over a decade. 'It's not rocket science,' said Henriod, a father of four children ages 10 to 21. 'I'm thinking about my kids and what are they going to buy. I'd like them to be able to buy something, gain equity and get into a move-up market. I think that's what the American dream really is.' Nothing's planned yet, but the company's already scouting property, including in Cottonwood Heights, Salt Lake City, Ogden, Spanish Fork and Murray. Henriod said he's just waiting for the state to come out with specifics of the starter condo program. 'Hopefully soon,' he said, adding the company would love to be able get started in the next year or so since it takes at least three to four years to secure the necessary permits and then build a 200-unit complex. It's the Utah Housing Corporation that will fund condo projects from the state monies set aside for starter homes once the details of the program are in place. Just how long that's going to take remains to be seen. 'We make no promises,' said David Damschen, who served as Utah state treasurer before becoming president and CEO of the nonprofit agency created some 50 years ago. 'We're moving as quickly as we can. ... We're not messing around.' The hope is that Utah Housing Corporation's new role in the governor's starter home program as a lender to developers will be fairly well defined by late summer, he said. A new hire has already been made to help with what will be a significant expansion of the agency's construction financing. 'Obviously, we're very subject to how things unfold. We're spending a lot of time with the developer community as well as legal counsel, making sure we understand the sources of risk, making sure we understand how the incentives will be viewed,' Damschen said. If the new program 'doesn't work for developers to do really great work, produce high-quality, affordable units, it's not a good program. So we have to strike a delicate balance,' he said, between the risk of financing condo construction and the reward of more affordable housing. Claudia O'Grady, vice president of Utah Housing Corporation's Multifamily Finance Department, said it's possible there could be units for sale as soon as next year. She said she's been hearing from developers interested in converting existing apartment projects into condos. 'If it can get done in a manner that meets our program requirements, and our objectives of affordability, a quality product at affordable, entry-level prices, we're going to entertain those applications,' O'Grady said. She said the condo projects would be fee-based to incentivize developers to participate and hopefully allow the units to be sold at cost, although the 'finer points' of that model still need to be worked out. That includes the size of the fee paid to developers. 'Yes, there's profit in it,' Damschen said. 'We don't want to let them make too much.' For buyers, for now the intention is to require owner occupancy for at least five years. Income limits are also being discussed, but Damschen said there's value in keeping it simple for Utahns seeking to become homeowners. 'You can overcomplicate programs such that they're not as appealing either to developers or to homebuyers, or mortgage lenders. So there's a focus on simplicity. There's a focus on the cost,' he said, noting down payment assistance would be available to first-time buyers. Damschen believes the starter condos will be welcomed. 'It's not really single-family homes versus condos. It's apartments, rental apartments, versus condos. That's really where the initiative stemmed from, was generally, cities are more interested in ... housing units that provide home ownership opportunities,' he said. At the same time, making the transition from renter to owner by purchasing a single-family home is often out of reach for Utahns. 'Increasingly, single-family detached homes at $400,000, $450,000, $500,000 are not affordable to first-time homebuyers,' Damschen said. 'But for a lot of folks buying their first home, a condo at $300,000 will do the trick.' Utah's largest homebuilder, Ivory Homes, backs the governor's efforts. Chris Gamvroulas, president of Ivory Development, said the starter home program was initially geared to small- and medium-sized builders. Asked if Ivory was interested in building starter condos, he said 'we have so many other projects that are in our pipeline already that for us, it wouldn't make sense. But I know there's a lot of builders that are looking into it now and are hopeful that it can bridge the gap.' Gamvroulas said high-density housing that for sale could enable more Utahns to earn equity rather than paying rent. Over time, he said, they could sell their unit and buy a single-family home like the ones Ivory builds. 'We're homebuilders. We sell homes. That's our business. We want to get people into homes and have them own them. It's good for families. It's good for individuals. It's good for our state. It's good for business,' Gamvroulas said, adding, 'It can be a condo. It can be a town home.' Jed Nilson, the owner of Ogden-based Nilson Homes, is the first and so far only builder to participate in the governor's starter home program. Now, he's eager to do the same with starter condos. When the JDC Ranch development near Plain City is complete, 275 of what's now 1,000 homes will be single-family detached houses priced for first-time buyers. The 12 starter homes built so far cost between $370,000 to $400,000 and were all snapped up by eager buyers, Nilson said. 'The governor did a press conference there on Thursday, Oct. 31. By the following Wednesday, we had a waiting list of 150-ish people. So there's huge demand. We have done zero marketing,' he said, noting that list continues to grow. The $10.7 million he received through the state program was used to buy 130 lots and add roads and utilities for the initial phase of the development started last year as well as to build the 12 starter homes, Nilson said. The phase also will include another nine single-family detached starter homes as well as 70 townhomes priced under $450,000, he said, citing a requirement that homes in that price range must make up at least 60% of the project to qualify for the state loan program. For the construction of the market-rate homes in that phase, Nilson said he took out a separate loan at a higher rate. It took months to put together the initial loan from the state fund, made by First Utah Bank, Nilson said, so he initially had to fund all of the development and construction. 'It was a little bit of a nail-biter,' he said, but worth the wait. Nilson, who took over a business started by his father in the late 1970s, said Utah's lack of affordable housing is 'my problem to fix. If anybody can fix the problem, it has to be builders and developers.' So why aren't more participating in the program? 'Builders have been building large homes on large lots for the last 20 years,' he said. Bigger means more profits, even though Utahns are clamoring to buy smaller brand-new homes on smaller lots. 'I do still make money, I just don't make as much money as if I were building the market rate homes,' Nilson said. 'Here's the thing that also helps me out, the fact that when I build these starter homes, I get to build more homes.' He's not just talking about shrinking the lot size to accommodate smaller, less expensive homes. Local governments have long resisted a push by state lawmakers for them to accommodate smaller lot sizes. For the 240-acre JDC Ranch development that's expected to take seven years to build out, Nilson said with help from the governor's office, he was able to secure permission from Weber County to build on about 30 acres that normally would have to be set aside as open space. In exchange, he said the county expects a total of 275 detached starter homes built, so the development has been redesigned to add those alongside the homes originally planned, bringing the total number of units in the project to 1,000. Lot sizes range from around 4,000 square feet for the two models of starter homes, to between 6,000 and 13,000 square feet for the market rate homes, Nilson said. His starter homes have a deed restriction requiring the owner to live there, he said, so properties can't get bought up by investors and turned into rentals. They also come with landscaping and fencing, and ongoing maintenance through a homeowners association. 'We don't have to worry that we're going to put in affordable housing and people won't be able to afford to put their yards in or they won't be able to afford to maintain their yards,' Nilson said. 'Even if my last name weren't on the business, I want to be proud of what I create.' Starter homes will sell as fast as they can be built because there's so little on the market for Utahns who want a new house priced under $450,000, he said, adding that his 12 starter homes all closed on the day they were finished. 'If I had a hundred more, they would all be sold,' Nilson said. The next phase of the JDC Ranch development with more starter homes is underway and other projects are planned in Utah and Box Elder counties. He said there's still some money available from his first loan from the state fund and his company is in the process of borrowing more. Nilson said he's also ready 'to test one on the condo side,' using a loan from the state fund to build a starter condominium project somewhere along the Wasatch Front since 'the true way that we start to create affordability is if we go up.' Opening up the starter home program to condos 'is a huge game-changer for the state of Utah, where developers like myself in a master plan like this where it has a thousand units, maybe we could have done some condos and brought it up 1,100 units,' at even lower price points, he said. 'This program is going to help the state significantly,' Nilson said, because including condos may be what makes it possible to meet Cox's goal of 35,000 new starter homes. 'Now I see how we're going to be able to do it. I think it's really brilliant.'
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued in northern Utah, damage expected
WEBER COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — The National Weather Service has expanded the Severe Thunderstorm Warning to include southwestern Weber County, west-central Salt Lake County, southwestern Davis County, and east-central Tooele County. 'At 1258 PM MDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Stansbury Park, or near Grantsville, moving northeast at 40 mph. Gusts to 65 mph have been observed,' the warning states. Additionally, the warning now lasts until 1:30 p.m. Locations to be impacted include Salt Lake City, Tooele, Grantsville, Stansbury Park, Tooele Army Depot, Magna, Great Salt Lake South of the Causeway, Lake Point, and Erda. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has also been issued for the following counties, in effect until 8 p.m.: Box Elder County Morgan County Summit County Wasatch County Cache County Rich County Tooele County Weber County Davis County Salt Lake County Utah County This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this post as new information becomes available. BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning in northern Utah's Box Elder and Tooele counties. Just before 12:30 p.m., the NWS issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for south-central Box Elder County and north-central Tooele County. The warning lasts until 1:15 p.m. 'At 1228 PM MDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 12 miles north of Clive, or 38 miles northwest of Grantsville, moving northeast at 40 mph. Wind gusts up to 64 mph have been reported with this cluster of storms,' the warning states. The NWS said to expect wind gusts up to 60 mph, as well as damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations to be impacted include Utah Test and Training Range North, Great Salt Lake South of the Causeway, Hat Island, Gunnison Island, and Lakeside. The warning also said to expect hail up to .75 inches. 'For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building,' the warning states. How to Get a Car Loan Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued in northern Utah, damage expected Two arrested after drive-by shooting targeting ex-boyfriend in Salt Lake City 100 men versus 1 gorilla: Experts weigh in on viral debate How Does a Car Trade In Work? Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Female judge breaks down in tears as she sentences dad to life for horrific abuse death of his 12 year-old son
A Utah judge broke down in tears as she sentenced a father to life imprisonment for the horrific abuse death of his 12-year-old son. Shane Jesse Peterson, 47, was sentenced to up to life behind bars following the death of his son Gavin, who died on July 9, 2024. Gavin died at a Weber County hospital after what authorities described as 'unimaginable suffering.' The shocking conditions revealed in court documents showed that Gavin was severely malnourished before his death, fed only 'a piece of bread with mustard' and one-third cup of water daily while being locked in an empty room under constant camera surveillance. When discovered, the boy's body was 'visibly emaciated' with internal organs that had 'shut down completely,' according to the affidavit. In court on Wednesday, Judge Camille L. Neider of Utah's Second District Court fought back tears as she delivered the maximum possible sentence. 'I agree that you should be given the maximum sentence,' Judge Neider stated. 'I am going to run it consecutive. I also am going to encourage the board to keep you until you die.' Judge Neider ordered Peterson to serve five years to life in prison for child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony; three terms of 1 to 15 years for aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony; and one term of zero to 5 years for endangerment of a child, a third-degree felony. She said it was the first time in 25 years that she got 'teary' in court. Neider told Peterson: 'You were Gavin's dad. I don't think you deserve that title anymore, but there's nothing that can be done to change it.' In court on Wednesday, Judge Camille L. Neider of Utah's Second District Court fought back tears as she delivered the maximum possible sentence 'You certainly were not his father and you certainly were not his protector.' 'I also find it telling that I am more emotional about this than you are - and I think that there is reason for that.' Peterson had pleaded guilty in March to five felony charges, including child abuse homicide, three counts of aggravated child abuse, and child endangerment. When Gavin died last summer, three other family members were subsequently arrested for child abuse homicide within days of his death. Shocking documents later released by the Utah Division of Child and Family Services revealed several years of investigation into the Peterson family. The documents stated that Gavin had suffered 'severe and chronic physical abuse and severe and chronic physical neglect.' In April, Gavin's stepmother broke down in tears as she plead guilty to her role in starving her 12-year-old stepson to death. Nichole Lea Scott, 51, of West Haven, Utah, admitted to a heart-wrenching array of crimes after her actions led to the emaciated death of Gavin. Scott, along with the boy's father and the boy's oldest brother Tyler Peterson, 22, are accused of starving the child to death and subjecting him to years of abuse, including locking him in a room and providing only scraps of food and water. 'When talking about feeding the child victim, the three suspects talk about only giving the child one-third of a cup of water, only giving him a piece of bread and mustard, or not feeding him food at all,' charging documents obtained by East Idaho News state. 'All of this messaging and evidence revealed a prolonged pattern of abuse over the course of several years.' While in Ogden's 2nd District Court on Monday, the stepmother was seen weeping and emotional as she tearfully pleaded guilty to murder, three counts of intentional aggravated child abuse, two counts of obstruction of justice, child endangerment and possession of a controlled substance. Shane and Tyler both pleaded guilty to child abuse homicide and other child abuse charges on March 20. Part of the guilty pleas for both men involved admitting to the factual basis of the charges. They both testified that investigator statements were true and that Gavin was subjected to a 'prolonged pattern of abuse over the course of several years.' Deputies from the Webster County Sheriff's Office were called to his father's home in West Haven on July 9 after reports that the young boy was 'not breathing' and 'experiencing vomiting' for days on end. Officers and paramedics attempted to resuscitate Gavin who was found on the bathroom floor. He was then taken to the hospital, where he later died, police said. His father, stepmother and older brother were all arrested in connection to the boy's horrific death, which the court heard was brought on by 'a prolonged pattern of abuse over the course of several years.' Sickening surveillance footage and text messages between the three revealed Gavin's final days, where he was only fed a piece of bread with mustard, one-third of a cup of water, and was not allowed to use the bathroom, according to the affidavit. The deputy noted that the bathroom floor was 'wet and the child's skin was cold to the touch,' the affidavit said. 'Nichole and Shane reported that the child had been ill for several days, experiencing vomiting and seizures, but was not taken to a doctor. On the day of the incident, Nichole found the child in his bedroom, covered in vomit, and assisted him into the shower.' Once Gavin was taken to the hospital, doctors found that his body 'showed malnutrition to the point the child's internal organs had shut down completely'. 'The child's body was visibly emaciated,' according to the affidavit. Upon further investigation into the child's death, detectives discovered text messages between Tyler and Shane where they discussed the condition of Gavin. In the messages, Tyler told his father that Gavin was not breathing, asking what he should do, the affidavit said. Investigators also found home surveillance footage that showed Tyler making three trips to the shed in the backyard around the same time they called 911. 'During two of these trips, Tyler appeared to be carrying items to the shed. A search of the property uncovered small surveillance cameras in the shed Tyler entered,' the affidavit said. Screenshots of surveillance footage that monitored Gavin's room were also uncovered on Nichole's phone that showed the horrendous conditions the boy was living in. 'In most of the screenshots, the child is only wearing a heavily saturated diaper. The child can be seen curling up on the carpet-less floor of the room, which lacked bedding or blankets. 'Several screenshots also showed sores on the child's back. The room appeared to have multiple cameras, as the infrared lights from other devices were visible in the screenshots. 'The photo also showed the door handle with a locking mechanism positioned on the outside of the room,' the arrest report said. After searching through the suspects' phones, detectives found text messages where they discussed if Gavin was allowed to 'use the bathroom' or 'be given any food.' Their conversations also included talk about 'hitting or beating' Gavin, including 'using a piñata stick to do so,' the report said. 'They also talk about how the door to the child's bedroom is locked and how he has to knock on his door in order to leave. 'When talking about feeding the child victim, the three suspects talk about only giving the child one-third of a cup of water, only giving him a piece of bread and mustard, or not feeding him food at all. 'All of this messaging and evidence revealed a prolonged pattern of abuse over the course of several years,' the affidavit said.
