>> FORECASTING LAND USE
Baldwin County has become more proactive in addressing its housing and infrastructure concerns, and local officials say results will be more evident in the next couple of years, if not sooner.
Baldwin County Manager Carlos Tobar said last week that the county applied for the second time in 2021 to become a Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH) partner and was approved. That program is designed to promote a community’s progress in growth and is funded through the state’s Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and administered through the University of Georgia. The designation increases the county’s chances for federal funds such as Housing and Urban Development (HUD) monies funneled through the DCA.
Following the rejection of its application for the program in 2018, the county waited three years before applying again and in that time took action in several areas to support its proposal.
“I applied when I first got here, and we didn’t make it because we hadn’t shown enough progress in trying to improve community housing stock,” Tobar said. “Once we started enforcing the unsafe building abatement (ordinance), started requiring homeowners to tear down their houses and structures on their property, that was the main reason we showed them we’re serious about improving community housing.
“Obviously, when they dangled the carrot of applying for sewer projects annually, and considering the age of our infrastructure, it made sense to the commissioners that we should place some focus on housing in the community.”
Tobar said the push for the certification requires a lot of work.
“It is competitive, very competitive,” he stressed. “They only accept five communities a year.”
Baldwin County currently is receiving funds through a CDBG grant that is in the process of being bid for sewer upgrades only. The matching funds of $250,000 for that entitlement came through the current Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Funds (SPLOST) that was approved by voters in 2017. Bids on some of that work are to be let this summer, Tobar said. That grant was approved before the county was designated as a GICH community.
Now that the designation has been attained, Tobar and other staff members are busy. The county is now preparing an application for a multi-purpose housing and sewer CDBG grant in the amount of $1.25 million. That application is due June 2.
“That is pedal to the metal,” Tobar said. “We have the target area finalized. The map details have been finalized. We’ve just got to get it done.”
The sewer improvement portion of $1 million will require a county match of $250,000-$300,000, Tobar estimated, while the $250,000 housing grant will require only matches from selected homeowners in amounts of $500, $750, or $1,000. He said county commissioners clearly defined their focus for potential recipients.
“The commissioners said they had to be very low income, seniors (citizens) and disabled,” Tobar emphasized. “Those were going to be the preferred applicants.”
The targeted area includes Oconee Heights, Hardwick, he said, pointing out that pursuant to the multi-purpose CDBG guidelines, the housing and sewer improvements must be in the same general location.
The county’s match for this proposal, if approved, will come from SPLOST funds as well, but this share will be from the renewal of the penny tax that starts April 1, 2024.
“One of the benefits of SPLOST is the ability to leverage those funds as a match for state and federal grants,” Tobar said. “It allows us to accelerate infrastructure replacement.”
To get to the point of applying for the multi-purpose CDBG grant, the county showed in its application in 2021 what it had done since the 2018 rejection. One action that has been visible is that the enforcement of the Unsafe Building Abatement Ordinance was increased significantly starting in October of 2018, about the time the first GICH application was denied.
“At the time of the application, since the last time we had applied, 189 unsafe structures had been demolished,” Tobar said. “We’re up to around 240 now.”
He said the cost of doing the rehab work or demotion falls on the owner of the property. He also said the county has the necessary tools for enforcement of the ordinance but has never had to go that route.
“If you don’t comply, we’ll take you to court. We’ll clean up your property for you, place a lien on your property, so if you sell it you have to pay us back. To this day, no one has chosen to go down that road. They have all complied,” he continued, adding that the county has received two awards for its efforts in improving the county’s housing conditions without legal or court intervention.
As part of the effort to improve community housing, the county adopted a similar regulation, the Property Standards Ordinance.
“If you don’t comply, you can be fined $500 a day,” Tobar said.
The county has also applied and been approved for a $400,000 grant through the Community Home Investment Program (CHIP). That grant requires no local match for the low-income rehabilitative housing work.
“We are waiting to receive approval to bid the first three houses,” Tobar said. “It’s a slow process. It’s been 14 months since we were approved, and we haven’t gotten permission to start the rehabilitation yet.”
The other tool the county is putting into place to help seek approval for funding is the upcoming adoption of a Land Use Map. The map has been unofficially approved and referred to as the ‘future land use map’ when the board adopted the new comprehensive plan in February, but it has not been officially adopted. Tobar said that should come in the next few months because public hearings will be required.
“The Land Use Map designates what type of development can happen throughout the county in what areas,” he pointed out. “This is district-based land registration.
“Baldwin County has a land use committee. Developers come in and show us what they want to do. We are making decisions based on this map.”
Tobar stressed that once the map receives formal approval, it will serve an important purpose.
“Once this is formally adopted, we can apply for PlanFirst designation at DCA. It’s just getting another tool in the toolbelt.”
Tobar said the county’s efforts must be directed at both infrastructure and housing to secure the financial assistance through various grant programs.
“We want to accelerate replacement of our aging infrastructure. In order to be able to accelerate that process,” he pointed out, “we need to focus on housing. That’s the way the rules are set up.”