Background check, adaptability among concerns

Concerns about having to pass background checks and about the ability to adapt to change are two things worrying low-income residents who may have to move out of three downtown hotels, residents told two mayoral candidates Saturday.

About 30 of the 134 current residents of the Regis, Cambridge and Windsor hotels on State Street between 200 South and 300 South met at a downtown deli with Jenny Wilson, a Salt Lake County Council member, and Nancy Saxton, a Salt Lake City Council member, to express opinions about what they would like to see happen to the city-owned buildings, where most residents have been living for two to three years. Both Saxton and Wilson are candidates for mayor of Salt Lake City.

The buildings currently do not meet many city standards. Most of the single-room-occupancy units have worn-out carpets, decaying wooden frames and plumbing problems. The Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City, which owns them, has requested proposals from developers that would determine if the buildings will be torn down or restored.

Both candidates believe the buildings should be renovated, not torn down. However, they disagree on how much they should be renovated and where the residents should live if remodeling begins.

Saxton said she would not just like the buildings to be renovated but would also like to expand the housing units by adding more floors and retail stores. Meanwhile, she said, the residents should be moved into either temporary or permanent housing nearby that would accommodate them as well as where they have been living.

Wilson said she also would like residents to live as near to the current buildings as possible so the distance from their jobs and access to transportation is not heavily altered.

"I'm very sympathetic about the residents' position," Wilson said. "They get along well together here, and I respect that."

The residents who attended the meeting said they would rather rotate people into the Windsor building, which is empty, while the rest of the housing units are renovated. This option would cost less and save residents from the hassles of a possible drastic change in location, said Tina Turney, who has lived in the Cambridge for two years.

"There's a lot of mental patients living in this building, and most cannot handle change," said Turney, who works with a home-improvement company. "They can't just put them on the streets. They'll have to move them one at a time if they have to."

Saxton, however, said all three buildings are uninhabitable and all need to be restored.

The three buildings currently operate like hotels, with weekly or monthly rates, but without a lease or background check. Moving to another location may also mean the residents could be forced to live on the street, because their background checks would not qualify them for other housing, said Tim Funk, of the Crossroads Urban Center.

"One of the residents here has 16 criminal years on his record," Funk said. "If they kick him out he'll have no place to go."

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E-mail: abreton@desnews.com