Agenda - 03-06-1985 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ir5 411 . • • ..... • „ • • Department Report Housing and Community Development • • The mission of the Housing and Community Development Department is • to, revitalize deteriorating communities, provide rental assistance opportunities for low-income families by utilizing existing housing units, and investigate minimum housing code complaints. The department has two separate but related divisions. The housing component of the department administers the Rental Subsidy Programs which consist of Section 8 Existing and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation. - . Community Development activities and Minimum Housing Code Enforcement are • administered by the Community Development Division. There are obvious County-wide conditions which bring about the need for services rendered by this department. They are: (A) Shortage of Low and Moderate Income Rental Housing Currently, Housing and Community Development has a Section 8 Existing Housing Waiting List which totals 500 families. With increasing rental housing cost prevelant, the need for affordable, decent, safe and • sanitary rental housing has become a pressing demand. The Section 8 Programs serve as a remedy for those demands. (8) Deteriorating Communities Along with rental housing needs, there are deteriorating communities within the County that exhibit the following Characteristics: substandard housing; inadequate public facilities (roads, water and sewer); the lack of home • . ownership Opportunities because of poor public facilities; and blighting conditions that present potential health and safety hazards to community residents. Community Development activities are designed to alleviate these poor conditions. (C) Substandard Rental Housing • In many instances, substandard rental housing is the product of increasing housing cost. Generally tenants occupy substandard units because it is last resort housing. Minimum Housing Code Enforcement offers the tenant a means to file housing code complaints and ensures that complaints will be formally investigated. Program efficiency is the overall goal for the Section 8 component. That goal has been accomplished in 1984-85 by achieving the following • objectives: (1) a thorough assessment of all elements within the program operation; (2) modification and refinement of all operational systems; (3) implementation of new policies, guidelines and procedures. Community Development objectives are: the rehabilitation of substandard dwellings; the improvement of public facilities; acquisition of real property, and clearance of blighting influences '(dilapidated structures and unsafe ' • debris). Not only are these program objectives ongoing throughout the year 'but the objectives are also mandates established by the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Community Development (NRCD). •