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Richland County proposes $250,000 CDBG reallocation for community center and townhome demolition
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Summary
Richland County staff proposed reallocating $250,000 in CDBG funds—$50,000 for predevelopment at the Jim Christopher Community Center at the Grand Village and $200,000 to demolish five fire-damaged townhomes in St. Andrews Wood—to meet HUD timeliness requirements and reorient previous economic development goals.
Callison Richardson, community development division manager for Richland County, said the county is proposing a substantial amendment to prior HUD action plans to reallocate $250,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from canceled economic development projects to slum-and-blight removal and public facility improvements.
Richardson said the change is driven in part by staff turnover and limited capacity on earlier projects and by an annual HUD timeliness test that runs Aug. 2. "If we fail to meet this annual test, it re creates a 30% reduction in our next award," she said, adding the county aims to expend at least $200,000 of the $250,000 by July to avoid a punitive funding cut.
Under the recommendation, $50,000 of 2021 CDBG funds would be reallocated to predevelopment and site-prep costs for the Jim Christopher Community Center at the Grand Village, a Homeless No More-led redevelopment of the former Grand Motel on Two Notch Road. Richardson said the center, which Homeless No More has already raised more than $700,000 toward, will offer mentoring for youth, budgeting classes and on-site services for residents and neighbors.
The county would direct the remaining $200,000 to the Woodcourt Demolition Project in the St. Andrews Wood subdivision to demolish five townhomes that sustained significant fire damage. "These units do meet county standards for [being] structurally unsafe and clear for demolition by our county building inspection department," Richardson said; because the units are deemed uninhabitable, she said HUD's 1-for-1 replacement requirement would not apply for this activity.
Richardson also said the amendment will remove prior employment targets tied to the original economic-development proposals ("we said, oh, we're gonna create 15 jobs with this $250,000") because the newly proposed demolition and facility investments do not carry the same job-creation goals.
The public comment period for the amendment is open through Monday, May 4, Richardson said. The item is scheduled to go to the Admin & Finance Committee the following Tuesday and, if approved, to County Council on May 5 before submission to HUD; final HUD approval is required to move funds and meet the county's expenditure timeline.
The county invited written comments via email to cd@richlandcountyse.gov and on the Richland County Community Development web page. The proposed amendment remains subject to committee review, council action and HUD approval.
