Deseret News - Salt Lake City mayor bans new homeless shelters for next 6 months

Published: Oct 5, 2021

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall wants to ban the creation of any new, permanent homeless shelters in her city for the next six months.

The aim, she said, is to take the time to chart a new course for homeless services in Salt Lake City and prevent Utah’s capital from taking on a higher burden than other cities across the Wasatch Front and the state.

The move comes after Mendenhall withdrew her support for a new homeless shelter proposed in the Ballpark neighborhood, saying she would like to see more homeless services distributed throughout Salt Lake County before supporting another shelter in the city.

“Salt Lake City, and more specifically, certain districts in the city, bear a higher responsibility than other municipalities in the state to provide shelter and services to the state’s homeless population, and now is a crucial time for us to pause and chart a new, more balanced path forward in our plans for how those services take shape within the city,” Mendenhall said in a prepared statement issued Tuesday.

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Link to Article: https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/10/5/22711164/salt-lake-city-mayor-bans-new-permanent-homeless-shelters-for-6-months-erin-mendenhall-ballpark/