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Draper City, Salt Lake Co. officials announce new potential homeless center sites

Posted at 2:00 PM, Mar 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-28 16:26:39-04

SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah — In the final days before Salt Lake County has to submit it's location for where it wants to build a new homeless resource center to the State Homeless Coordinating Committee, two new sites have been added to the list.

"Draper wants to help. Let's see if we can find a location in Draper," said Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams.

Draper's Mayor, Troy Walker, is the one who proposed the idea.

"It's the right thing to do and it's the Christian thing to do," said Walker.

Walker submitted two possible locations. One is where the state prison currently sits. It is set to move near to a location near the Salt Lake International Airport in 2020. The other site is on the southeast corner of Minuteman Drive and Marion Vista Drive, roughly 15000 south and I-15.

Up the hill from the Minuteman drive site is a series of newly built townhomes.

"It's sickening to think that those people wander all day and to know that they could wander right up this hill to where our backyard is, is scary," said Brittney Allred, a mother of three who lives in one of the townhomes.

Wednesday night, an open house is planned from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. The meeting has been moved from Draper city hall to Draper Park Middle School, 13133 South 1300 East, to accommodate a large crowd.

The meeting will  get feedback on the two newly proposed sites. Salt Lake County is already considering six others, all in South Salt Lake and West Valley City. One will be chosen by Thursday to be submitted to the state.

"Today, Mayor Troy Walker and members of our Draper City Council stepped up and proved their leadership," said House Speaker Greg Hughes, a resident of Draper, in a statement. "As a resident and representative of Draper City, and with the two locations in Salt Lake City being within walking distance of my business, I am willing to accept whatever locations are selected and remain committed [to] solving [the homelessness] crisis."

A map provided by Salt Lake County officials shows a potential building site at the southeast corner of Minuteman Drive and Marion Vista Drive.

To view the homeless site proposed locations check them out here.

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