Affordable housing needs spark plan

Charles Oliver, The Daily Citizen, Dalton, Ga.
·2 min read

Apr. 22—Dalton and Whitfield County officials have put together an urban revitalization plan they say could attract developers to build affordable housing in the county's urban core.

The City Council and the county Board of Commissioners adopted the plan at their latest meetings. It creates an urban revitalization district bounded on the south, east and north by the Dalton bypass and on the west by I-75.

"That's really our most urbanized area," said Jake Bearden, coordinator of the Greater Dalton Metropolitan Planning Organization, who spearheaded the planning process.

That area includes most of the city of Dalton as well as some parts of unincorporated Whitfield County.

"This was put together in a partnership between city and county staff as well as Believe Greater Dalton and the Housing Authority of the City of Dalton," Bearden said during a meeting of the City Council.

Believe Greater Dalton is a Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce-led effort that focuses on six strategic areas to improve the community: educational outcomes, housing, entrepreneurship, economic development, downtown development and community pride.

Bearden said the plan was developed with community input, including a February meeting at Dalton's Mack Gaston Community Center attended by about 60 people.

"This is more of a guidance document than a plan itself," he said. "It does not commit our elected officials to anything but rather provides recommendations to all future developers who look to build in that area."

"These recommendations are to support affordable housing in the community," he said. "If there's going to be a (new) subdivision or neighborhood, things like internal sidewalks connected back to existing city infrastructure are encouraged. Rather than having an apartment building that is all hardscape, rooftop and concrete, we would like to see greenspace or parks included or access to transit or things of that nature that our community feels that are missing."

The plan also has recommendations for the revitalization of blighted commercial spaces.

"The community has suggested we look at things like local grocery stores or boutiques or educational resources that would help with financial literacy," Bearden said. "Things of that nature are what the community has said it would like to see."

Bearden stressed that "these are only recommendations. They are not commitments and they are not requirements."

But he said that developers who incorporate these recommendations into their plans could qualify for grants from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to offset their costs and "provide more affordable housing."

"There would be no match by any of our elected officials or any governing authority," he said.

To review the plan, go tohttps://www.whitfieldcountyga.com/boc/GreaterDaltonUrbanRevital izationPlan.pdf.