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- Davis County's warming center in Layton has so far operated smoothly, though the issue has sparked concern among some.
- Only one visitor has used the Layton warming center each night it's been open.
- Overnight warming centers, mandated by state law, are meant to serve the homeless and others in need during the coldest nights.
LAYTON — Contending with temporary homeless shelters has been the focus of intense and angry debate in Davis County in recent months due to some residents' concerns the population that would use such facilities could pose a potential threat.
So far, though, the Layton site that has served as a warming center on the coldest of nights for those in need in Davis County has drawn just one visitor on each of the four evenings it's been open. The vacant Davis Behavioral Health building at 850 S. Main in Layton was tapped as a warming center on Nov. 27, 28 and 29 and Monday. It is one of four facilities identified as a warming center in Davis County, along with another Layton site and sites in Clearfield and Kaysville.
"Things have gone smoothly," said Ryan Steinbeigle, a grant writer for the Davis County Economic Development office who's helping oversee the warming center program. The visitor who has used the warming center each of the four nights "usually just shows up and gets situated and goes to bed and has a warm place to stay and gets up in the morning and goes back to wherever they last were."
A law passed by state lawmakers in 2023 requires Davis County and Utah's other large counties to provide overnight warming centers for the homeless between Oct. 15 and April 30 whenever temperatures are expected to dip to 15 degrees Fahrenheit or below. County leaders had initially proposed equipping a traveling bus to serve as a warming center instead of a fixed location, but state officials overseeing the implementation of warming center programs — the Utah Office of Homeless Services — rejected the plan due to the cost.
In response, Steinbeigle said, state officials asked Davis County to draw up a list of county-owned locations that could serve as warming centers. That led to the selection of a former auto emissions testing center in Kaysville, the North Davis Senior Center location in Clearfield and a building at Valley View Golf Course in Layton. Davis Behavioral Health, a nonprofit mental health agency, offered the 850 S. Main structure in Layton and Davis County commissioners on Tuesday formalized the agreement with the entity to use the building.
Only the Kaysville site and another proposed warming center site at a church in Fruit Heights generated public backlash. The pastor at Mountain Road Church in Fruit Heights withdrew his offer to use the church as a warming center, given strong opposition by neighboring residents at a Nov. 6 Fruit Heights City Council meeting. The Kaysville location remains one of the four warming centers in Davis County — to be used on a rotating basis — and Steinbeigle tried to assuage concerns that the facilities pose a public danger.
"I would say that I think the fears are mostly unjustified. We haven't had any issues at our warming centers. The people who have arrived are just people looking for a warm place to be," he said. Aside from safety concerns, some critics have expressed concern that opening a facility for the homeless could serve as a magnet to more.
Notwithstanding the opposition of some to the Kaysville site, he noted that many in the city are OK with the warming center. "It's not used in the evenings, mostly vacant. It's in sort of an industrial area right off I-15 near a bus stop. So it just made a lot of sense," he said.
The warming centers only host people in need overnight when the temperature is expected to dip to 15 degrees or colder. Davis County has created a bus route and schedule to pick up anyone who wants transportation to the facilities. Steinbeigle suggested those in need use the transportation system since the warming center location will be changed from time to time. Agencies that work with the homeless are also getting the word out to the population.
Leaders from across Davis County are in the midst of trying to come up with a more permanent solution to help the homeless. Their focus has been on warming centers, but Steinbeigle expects more discussion in coming months.
