Council reviews expansion to Central Canton redevelopment plan to boost housing tax credit competitiveness
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Summary
City staff proposed a no-cost update to expand the Central Canton Urban Redevelopment Plan boundary, adding parcels (including portions of the historic district and QCT 904.01) that staff said could increase applicants' Georgia Department of Community Affairs housing tax credit scores by up to seven points.
CANTON — City planning staff presented a no-cost update to the Central Canton Urban Redevelopment Plan on Feb. 5, proposing an expanded URP boundary that would add leftover parcels in the Canton Historic District, include remaining parcels within Qualified Census Tract 904.01 and several parcels north of the current boundary.
Mister Allen, a planning staff member, told council the boundary change is intended to align the URP with existing neighborhood and institutional edges and to improve consistency across the map. He said developments located inside a community revitalization plan such as the Central Canton URP — or inside a qualified census tract — can earn extra points when applying for Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) housing tax credits. Allen estimated the combined effect could be a potential seven-point increase in applicant scores, which staff said may make local affordable housing projects more competitive for DCA funding.
The proposed expansion would add parcels bounded on the south by Reinhardt College Parkway/Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, on the west by the city limits, on the east by Bluffs Parkway and on the north by the Hickory Log Creek Reservoir, according to staff. Allen described the revised boundary as shown in the map included in council packets and said the update itself carries no direct cost to the city.
Council opened the public hearing; no residents signed up to speak, and the hearing was closed with the matter returned to council discussion. Staff did not present an ordinance or vote at the Feb. 5 meeting; Allen said maps and details were included in the council packet for further consideration.
If council adopts the revision in a later action, staff said it expects the change to help developers competing for DCA credits — a key source of financing for affordable housing projects — by improving scoring under the agency's application rules. The council did not take a final vote on the URP boundary during the Feb. 5 meeting.
The next procedural step, according to staff, is for council to consider formal adoption after reviewing the draft maps and resolution language.
