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Loganites Respond To Proposed Owner Occupancy Fee Change

Dennis Stock

The Logan City Council held their bi-monthly meeting Thursday to vote on a resolution dedicated to neighborhood improvement and enforcement of Logan’s occupancy limit.

At the meeting, the council unanimously supported Resolution 18-08; a measure which aims to facilitate The Betterment and Strengthening of Logan’s Neighborhoods.

Susan Poulson spoke at last night’s meeting. She’s concerned about the proposed changes in the resolution.

“We own properties and we’re good landlords, and we’ve kind of felt that we’ve been targeted as, maybe, not as good as they think," she said. "And we think there’s good people out there that need good housing at an affordable rate, versus going into the expensive, big new apartments."

While several speakers were in favor of the community reinvestment provision, several critics spoke against the proposed fee increase, including students with the Utah State Government Relations Council.

Currently, if more than 3 non-related occupants live together outside a student-housing zone, the unit is charged $50 a day. Under the new standard, the owner occupancy fee will increase to $250.

One landlord, Skylar Smith, believes these changes will put further strain on Logan's housing shortage.

“Logan is suffering from a shortage of affordable housing and if this council votes to pass this resolution as it currently rests they are deliberately exacerbating the shortage,” he said.

The council took a hard line stance on the occupancy standards. During the hearing, Vice Chair Jeannie Simmonds, emphatically reminded those gathered at the meeting that the occupancy limit was three by law.

While the council voted to show support for Resolution 18-08, they opted for more deliberation on the community reinvestment measure. The council will hold workshops on the fee increase during their May meetings.