Providence trying to get ahead of anticipated growth

Like most towns and cities in Cache Valley, Providence is experiencing its share of growing pains and trying to figure out how to deal with it. On KVNU’s For the People program on Tuesday, Providence Mayor John Drew said affordable housing is an issue in his town.

We have people that say they don’t want to see Providence change. But mom and dad had a lot of kids and so did grandma and grandpa and they have to live somewhere. So, we’re struggling with that and we have put in quite a bit of work on revising some of our ordinances. We’ve had discussions with developers,” he said.

The mayor said any developer coming into the city has to go through the steps and reviews, but at the same time the housing market is suffering from a significant shortage in construction work and there are some smaller projects in Providence that they can’t even get bids on. He said Providence is like a lot of cities, there is a lot of interest in new development, it’s just that it can only move forward so fast.

“We did have a couple of new ordinances, one is a land-use ordinance. We call it LifeCycle Zone which is a mix of residential housing types. It’s been well received overall. We also have a building ordinance that governs the design standards for multi-family dwellings.”

Drew says he has heard from mayors from five other cities seeking information on those two ordinances. He said there is a great deal of interest in how his city has approached it.

AUDIO: Jason Williams talks with Providence mayor John Drew

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