Commissioners approve CDBG staff augmentation; staff to meet with Kohl's Gardens over affordable‑homeownership plan

Lee County commissioners on Sept. 2 approved a task order to bring additional affordable‑housing expertise to the county's CDBG implementation team and directed staff to meet with the Kohl's Gardens project team to review the proposal and assess whether the project can produce a compliant, fundable CDBG application.

Glenn Sawyer, who presented the task order, told commissioners the county is "running out of time" on several pending closings and is adding outside experts to help push deals through underwriting and investor review. He said vacancy rates and investor caution have made some earlier financing commitments less certain and that the task order was written on the assumption that the deals under consideration would move forward; staff characterized the contract amount as a conservative, not‑to‑exceed figure they do not expect to reach.

Commissioner Hammond asked staff to work with the long‑standing Kohl's Gardens proposal in the Dunbar areaa mixed affordable/workforce homeownership plan the transcript reported had been in discussion since 2020. Hammond made a motion directing staff to meet with the developers to see if they can prepare a compliant and competitive application for CDBG funding; the motion carried unanimously. Resident Joyce Campana spoke during public comment asking staff to review the project's pro forma and express concern that if fewer than the proposed low‑income units are built the county could be left holding soft‑second mortgages or repayment obligations.

Staff said they will provide briefings to commissioners on each pending deal and follow up with the Kohl's Gardens team to review feasibility, mitigation of county risk and the project's monitoring/oversight provisions.

No funding commitment for Kohl's Gardens was made at the Sept. 2 meeting; the board's action was a direction for staff engagement and review.