Huron County's Director of Social and Property Services recently brought county council up to date on the county's policy regarding shovel-ready housing projects and why it was important to have a policy in place.
Barbara Hall explained that funding opportunities are often time-sensitive in terms of a short response period for shovel-ready projects to be submitted for consideration. Or the application scoring card offers additional points for projects that have a shorter occupancy readiness date, which is possible for projects that are already shovel-ready.
Hall says having a roster of shovel-ready projects available would enable the county to meet the eligibility criteria for programs offered by external funding sources and to remain competitive for time sensitive and funding limited programs. And ultimately that would benefit the residents of Huron County with additional types of affordable housing development.
Hall adds a range of shovel-ready projects aligns with the county's model of dispersed housing. So shovel-ready projects would be identified in differing styles of housing such as apartment buildings, triplexes, row housing, or a variety in the number of units available within a project. Different types of housing programs would be offered, such as supportive, rent geared to income, affordable, attainable and or market units.
The Housing Renewal Plan, prepared by Tim Welch Consulting in April 2022 included developing site plans, conceptual building designs and working with local Councils to pre-zone properties for housing investment.