Kendall Crittenden is in his 20th year as a Wasatch County Councilor. He’s currently trying to secure three more years as he runs against three candidates vying for his position — Mary Williams, Jami Hewlett and Tori Broughton.
Of the three challengers, Williams is the only Republican, setting the two of them against each other in the March 5 Wasatch County Republican caucus meeting.
With his mass of experience, committee assignments and insights, Crittenden believes he has more to offer to the county and its residents.
“I don’t think it’s a secret to anybody, our biggest challenge is growth and how to handle that growth,” he said.
While most of that growth is either in Heber City or under the state’s Military Installation Development Association near the Jordanelle Reservoir, the county is still left to provide fire fighting and emergency medical services and ensure it works with Heber City on issues that will impact both the municipality and the county.
Crittenden talked about one of the major difficulties that has arisen throughout Wasatch County as more and more people have made it their home — affordable housing.
“I’ve been on the affordable housing board for a long time. I’m the chairman,” he said. “It’s a problem in
Wasatch County just like elsewhere. Our big challenge is it’s really difficult when your property values are so high.”
To make the issue even more complicated, he recalled when Utah’s state legislature passed a bill preventing counties from requiring developers to include a certain percentage of affordable houses in their projects.
“The majority of them paid a fee in lieu to us, but that gives the affordable housing board some money to do some other potential affordable housing projects,” he said.
When legislators tied counties’ hands two years ago, the county lost the ability to charge those fees.
Though Crittenden said some projects were agreed upon before that legislation came into effect, he’s not sure how the county can promote affordable housing in the future.
“I don’t know that we’ll see a lot more going forward,” he said.
While he sees future potential in the United States Department of Agriculture’s self-help programs — some of which have been sponsored in Wasatch County through nonprofit developers like Mountainlands Community Housing Trust — he’s less optimistic than some of his opponents about denser home options.
“I’m obviously opposed to denser development,” he said.
Even though he sees Governor Cox and state legislators pushing counties and cities to allow for denser development, he doesn’t believe it would solve the state or county’s unaffordability crisis.
“There’s a lot of those out south of town,” he said. “They’ve built a lot of units. … But we’ve got the density, and they’re still not coming down and affordable. They’re not lowering the cost.”
Crittenden also distances himself from candidate Tori Broughton in his views on the Utah Department of Transportation’s Heber Valley Corridor project.
While Broughton emphasized her trust in UDOT’s ability to choose the best of the five routes it’s currently considering to bring traffic off of Heber City’s Main Street and stop congestion on county roads, he stands next to the county resolution he voted for urging the department to keep their hands off the north fields.
While Heber City as a whole has not taken a position, some of the cities’ other elected officials have voiced their individual support for a route that would go through those fields.
“They have a right to their own opinion,” Crittenden said.
Part of their concern, he explained, is because Heber City is allowing denser growth along U.S. 40 north of the town center, an area the county would have kept less populated had property owners not chosen to annex into city boundaries.
Still, he thinks the development will require frontage roads along U.S. 40 which UDOT will build with routes that don’t touch the north fields.
Crittenden also took a more speculative look at Heber City’s long-term plans to revitalize its downtown and provide infrastructure for a more walkable city. While he’s broadly supportive, he thinks the city needs a more defined plan before the county will be willing to invest in the project.
When asked why voters should prefer him over his opponents, he mentioned his wealth of experience and said he hopes to remain involved.
“I have the time. I think I’ve proved over time my dedication,” Crittenden explained. “And I enjoy it.”