At a recent meeting, Spartanburg City Council unanimously approved the 2024-2028 Consolidated Plan for Federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding.
The plan guides the City of Spartanburg’s allocation of HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnership funding, and is a requirement the City must meet to receive those funds.
In his presentation to Council, Community Development Director Martin Livingston said the plan was developed after a public input period that included two in-person sessions as well as community and stakeholder surveys. Participants in the community survey highlighted a need for more affordable rental and homeowner housing, rental and owner-occupied housing rehab, and down payment assistance for homebuyers. Additionally, participants cited a need for additional supports including better street lighting, public transportation, and small business assistance.
Other data included in the plan showed that the city’s poverty rate has remained relatively flat over the past decade, standing at 25.7 percent, more than 10 percent higher than the state average. At the same time, the cost of housing in Spartanburg has increased dramatically, with home values rising 40 percent and rents rising 51 percent. Renters are especially feeling the brunt of these increases, as 51.5 percent are cost-burdened, along with 17.6 percent of homeowners. HUD defines anyone devoting more than 30 percent of their income to housing as cost-burdened.
To help address those issues, the Consolidated Plan will guide CDBG and HOME funding dollars towards strategies to develop new affordable housing while supporting existing housing stuck. Among the plan’s goals are: providing funding for owner-occupied rehab, increasing homeownership opportunities, increasing the stock of affordable rental housing, and reducing blight in residential areas. HUD’s CDBG and HOME funds are allocated to the City each year, with $642,598 in CDBG and $200,630 in HOME funds coming to the City in 2024. To view a draft of the 2024-2028 Consolidated Plan, follow this link.
In other action, City Council gave final approval to three related to the new minor league baseball stadium and adjacent developments in a series of 6-0 votes. Council member Rob Rain recused himself from voting on the items as he is employed by Johnson Development Associates, Inc., which is developing the project.
The three items approved were:
- An ordinance to authorize the execution of an agreement between the City and Spartanburg County regarding sharing costs of constructing, financing, and maintaining the stadium.
- An ordinance consenting to the removal of the property from a joint county industrial/business park and including it in a new joint county industrial/business park to facilitate agreements between the City of Spartanburg and Spartanburg County regarding their partnership in the development project.
- An ordinance authorizing the issuance of $67.5 million in bond debt to pay for the baseball stadium’s construction.
The items received approval on first reading at the City Council meeting held on April 9. For more from the recent meeting, see the full video by following this link.
Written by the City of Spartanburg.