The Escambia County Consortium is located in the western-most portion of the Florida panhandle, It is bordered by Alabama to the north and west, Okaloosa County to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. The Consortium is composed of Escambia County, the city of Pensacola, and unincorporated Santa Rosa County. The Consortium includes a mixture of highly urbanized and rural/agricultural areas. Two municipalities -- the city of Pensacola and the town of Century -- are located within Escambia County. Santa Rosa County includes the incorporated jurisdictions of Milton, Cuff Breeze, and Jay.

Action Plan

For the first year of its Consolidated Plan, the Consortium is expecting to receive $1,598,000 in HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME) funds, $109,000 in Emergency Shelter Grant funds, and $4,092,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds. Projects to be funded in the Consolidated Plan include housing rehabilitation, acquisition of vacant properties suitable for the construction of affordable housing, street improvements, and accessibility improvements for persons with disabilities.

Citizen Participation

Two public hearings were held on January 5, 1995, in the morning and afternoon at the Santa Rose County Courthouse and at the Pensacola City Hall. These hearings were publicized in the Pensacola News Journal and the Pensacola Voice. A 30-day comment period was held, during which the Consolidated Plan was publicly available. Various housing and social service providers were directly solicited for their comments.

In 1990, 344,406 people were living within the Consortium's boundaries. In Escambia County about 78 percent of the population are white, 16 percent are African American, 2 percent are Hispanic, almost 2 percent are Asian American or Pacific Islander, and about 1 percent are Native American. In Pensacola, more than 64 percent are white, 31 percent are African American, about 1 percent are Hispanic, and another 1 percent are Asian American or Pacific I-slander, and less than 1 percent are Native American. Santa Rosa is predominantly white (92 percent) with 3 percent African American, 1.5 percent Hispanic, 1 percent Asian American or Pacific Islander, and less than I percent Native American. The median household income for Escambia County was $34,700 in 1994. Of the 106,174 county households, 18 percent were single-parent families and more than one-forth had incomes below $24,999 in 1994.

Conditions

Economically, the Consortium area is largely dependent on employment opportunities in the tourism, retail, and governmental sectors. The industrial sector and related employment opportunities have not increased significantly during the past 10 years, as most now job growth has been in the commercial, retail, and service sectors that offer comparatively lower pay standards. Efforts to expand and diversify the local economy through public and private initiatives have proven successful as now and expanded business interests have selected the local area for location or expansion. The result is new jobs for local citizens and an expanding economic base.

As the home of the Pensacola Naval Air Station, Whiting Field, and related support facilities, the area is heavily dependent on civilian employment at military institutions. Unfortunately, the formal decision to close the Naval Aviation Depot in Pensacola has resulted in the elimination of nearly 3,500 technical-level civilian jobs and the loss of almost $150 million that the Depot annually contributed to the local economy.

Market Conditions

Locally, the private housing market has been sporadic during the past decade. The area witnessed strong growth during the mid-1980's, a virtual standstill during the late 1980's, reemerging slow growth during the early 1990's, and a marked surge in residential construction during the past 2 years. The majority of the Consortium's housing stock is composed of single-family detached housing located in recorded subdivisions or tracts,

The rental market became saturated during the 1980's, with vacancy rates in some non-subsidized complexes exceeding 12 to 13 percent. With the decline in development of new rental units in the late 1980's, the normal population growth has absorbed most of the surplus so that the current rental vacancy rate is between 3 and 4 percent within the 55 rental complexes surveyed by the Homebuilders Association. There are 16,553 vacant units within the boundaries of the Consortium, of which 82 percent are located in Escambia County. Ninety-two percent of all occupied rental housing has a contract rent level of less than $500 a month, while 32 percent has a contract rent level of less than $250 a month.

About 85 percent of all owner-occupied housing is valued at less then $100,000 while 38 percent is valued at less than $50,000. Primary growth in the Consortium's new construction sector has been in moderately priced ($60,000 to $80,000) and more expensive homes (generally more than $150,000). Such growth is concentrated in high demand areas, Only minimal activity has taken place in the $25,000 to $50,000 price range.

Demand for affordable homeownership for those with modest incomes, blemished credit, or inadequate savings is significant. With local rental rates for a modest three-bedroom apartment averaging $325 to $350 a month, there are numerous families in the current rental market who, with targeted assistance, could become homeowners.

Affordable Housing Needs

Within the Consortium, families with very low incomes, 31-50 percent of the median family income (MFI), have the greatest overall need for housing-related services and support. More than 70 percent of all very low-income renters and owners are faced with housing problems. Elderly renters and owners with extremely low incomes, 0-30 percent of MFI, have pronounced housing problems with more than 60 percent of elderly and more then 70 percent of all other household groups in this category spending more the 30 percent of their income for housing. Large family renters and non-elderly homeowners in this income group are more likely to spend more than half their income for housing.

The housing problems of low-income households (those earning 51-80 percent of MFI) are less pronounced than for very low-income households, but the problems remain significant for elderly and large-family renters, and for non-elderly homeowners. About 40 percent of renters and 30 percent of homeowners in the Consortium have a cost burden greater than 30 percent of their income.

Homeless Needs

In 1994 a survey by the Escambia Coalition on The Homeless identified a total of 505 homeless people, of which 162 were children. A 1994 report to Florida's Governor by the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services estimates that the average daily homeless population in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties is 1,200 people. The homeless population includes a strong concentration of single males and a secondary concentration of single-parent or female-headed households. Although the range of services for the homeless continues to expand, the demand for services is outstripping the capacity of homeless service providers, many of which are non-profit organizations.

The sheltered homeless are primarily families or non-traditional homeless individuals, Their needs include:

• Continued availability of emergency short-term shelter.

• Expanded availability of long-term transitional and permanent housing with priority for families.

• Increased supportive services, such as those dealing with education, health care, child care, job training and placement, and counseling,

• Expanded availability of outpatient and residential drug and alcohol treatment services for people who are indigent and uninsured.

• Continued availability and expansion of facilities providing secure shelter for victims of domestic violence and child abuse.

• Added support services and health care to target the needs of the homeless afflicted with AIDS.

• Increased availability of low-cost housing, especially rental, primarily for families.

The chronic homeless require a significant level of unrelenting effort to return them to normal living arrangements. Their needs include:

• Continued availability of emergency or other short-term shelter.

• Accessibility to drug and alcohol counseling and treatment facilities or services.

• Support for housing and transitional living arrangements for homeless people suffering from mental illness.

• Counseling and outreach services for unsheltered homeless youth.

• Access to health-care screening.

• Non-emergency treatment and related services.

Homeless facilities and services are concentrated in the Escambia County and Pensacola area. The homeless from surrounding areas of Santa Rosa County are served primarily through Escambia County facilities.

Public and Assisted Housing Needs

Public housing within the Consortium is administered through the Area Housing Commission (AHC) in Escambia County and the Milton Housing Authority (MHA) in Santa Rosa County. Both agencies operate sizable programs with a significant percentage of older units that require upgrades or replacement.

By December 31, 1994, there were 731 public housing units in inventory, Of the total, 442 of the public housing units are located within the corporate limits of Pensacola and 200 are located in Escambia County outside the corporate limits of Pensacola and Century. Eighty-nine units are located in Santa Rosa County. The AHC waiting list has about 563 families while the MHA waiting list has about 70 families. Families applying for public housing often must wait 3 to 12 months, depending on the number of bedrooms they need.

The consolidated Section 8 Rental Assistance Program in Escambia County is administered by the City of Pensacola and serves both the city and unincorporated areas of the county. In Santa Rose County, the program is operated in all areas of the jurisdiction by the Milton Housing Authority. Both programs have large waiting lists, The Escambia/Pensacola list exceeds 800 applicants and the Santa Rose list has more than 120 applicants. The average waiting period for a family to enter the Section 8 program in Escambia County is from 1 to 2 years and in Santa Rosa County from 2 to 6 months, depending on the number of bedrooms required by the families and the extent to which the families have a Federal preference. The vacancy rate for Section 8 existing units is less than 5 percent.

The Consortium also has Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA), made available in 1994. Through the Consortium's HOME funding, Pensacola operates the TBRA program in conjunction with the countywide Section 8 rental assistance program. The county expects that about 1 00 families will be provided TBRA assistance for a minimum term of 23 months.

Barriers to Affordable Housing

Although development restrictions and regulatory oversight are generally less stringent in the Consortium than in South Florida jurisdictions, many standards contained in local building codes can drive up the cost of housing.

Another potential barrier to affordable housing is growth limits. The Florida Growth Management Act requires that the development or protection of real property within jurisdictional boundaries comply with a State-approved local government comprehensive plan. The effect of such plans is to limit or control the rate, density, and type of growth within the State to ensure the availability of adequate infrastructure. Currently, an adequate supply of buildable residential properties and usable redevelopment property is available to prevent this requirement from adversely affecting housing affordability for the duration of this plan. However, as growth begins to force residential development near these protected areas, the costs will quickly begin to spiral upward.

Fair Housing

The Consortium's member jurisdictions agree jointly and cooperatively to undertake an analysis of impediments to fair and equal choice in housing in accordance with requirements that may be promulgated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Lead-Based Paint

Based on the age and occupancy of housing, the Consortium estimates that more then 43,000 units contain some level of lead-based paint, of which an estimated 22,464 are occupied by very low-income families and 21,178 are occupied by low-income families. Of the total, 40 percent are rental properties and 60 are owner-occupied.

Other Issues

Supportive residential settings are available for homeless and non-homeless people with drug and alcohol addictions, although, for those who lack insurance or the ability to pay, the cost of such services often limits access. According to the District I Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Plan, there is an existing need for residential substance abuse treatment capacity for 757 adults and 216 children and a growing need for supervised housing for persons trying to recover from their substance abuse.

About 387 people in Escambia County and 30 people in Santa Rosa County have AIDS. Although this number is not extremely large, it should be noted that the number of reported cases in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties has increased by about 70 percent within the past year. It is also estimated that for each known case of AIDS, there are at least 10 possibly undetected HIV infections. The availability of supportive housing for People with AIDS is limited in the Consortium, Infected individuals rely heavily on family, friends, and their own resources to meet housing needs. The nearest adult congregate living facility providing specific supportive housing for people afflicted with AIDS is located in Mobile, Alabama, about 60 miles from Pensacola.

Community Development Needs

Many subdivisions within the Consortium were developed before the implementation of current standards for drainage, streets, sanitary disposal, and fire protection. Therefore, significant existing deficiencies have resulted in severe surface runoff and erosion problems, inadequate water flow, and in extreme cases, flooding of streets and homes.

Housing Priorities

To preserve existing owner-occupied housing stock for low-income families, the Consortium will use the following strategies:

• Provide moderate housing rehabilitation assistance to 55 eligible low-income homeowners.

• Provide substantial rehabilitation or reconstruction assistance to eligible low income homeowners to preserve between 27 and 29 affordable housing units a year.

• Offer emergency or interim repair assistance to eligible low-income homeowners to slow deterioration of the housing stock within the Consortium.

To provide affordable homeownership opportunities for low-income families, the Consortium will use the following strategies:

• Purchase or develop residential lots and properties suitable for construction of single-family homes and make them available to eligible low-income homebuyers.

• Fund down payment, closing-cost, or principal-reduction assistance to help low-income homebuyers purchase newly constructed or existing single-family units.

Provide direct subsidies to support and encourage the development and construction of modest homes for eligible very low-income homebuyers through the combined resources of non-profit, public, and private agencies.

To increase availability of assisted or below market rental units for very low-income families, the Consortium will use the following strategies:

• Support applications for additional rental assistance certificates, vouchers, public housing allotments, and units for eligible vary low-income families.

• Provide subsidies to developers of affordable rental housing that targets eligible very low-income families.

• Encourage development of appropriate, community-based housing, services, and facilities designed to meet the needs of people with disabilities or those with other special needs.

To provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, and support services for the homeless, especially those with special needs, the Consortium will use the following strategies:

• Support the efforts of local non-profit agencies to meet the needs of the homeless and make Federal and State resources available to support the operating costs of such agencies.

• Disseminate information about grants and related funding opportunities to local agencies involved in the delivery of services to the homeless, and provide letters of support and consolidated plan consistency certifications for such proposals.

To coordinate and encourage activities designed to prevent or avoid homelessness, especially among poverty-level families living in substandard rental or owner-occupied housing, the county will use the following strategy:

• Collaborate with area non-profit, community-based, and governmental agencies to maximize the use of limited funds and resources to assist people and families threatened with homelessness because of impending eviction, foreclosure, or utility disconnection.

Non-Housing Community Development Priorities

Public infrastructure and facility objectives include:

• Constructing or reconstructing drainage systems within older neighborhoods and subdivisions to control surface runoff and eliminate flooding.

• Rehabilitating deteriorating urban streets and paving existing dirt roads or repaving secondary streets that serve populated neighborhoods and are necessary for access.

• Building or rehabilitating senior centers and community centers in areas more densely inhabited by residents in need of center services.

• Constructing a new centralized public health facility to effect coordination and single-site delivery of all public health services in the urban area of Escambia County.

Economic development objectives include.,

• Developing or expanding commercial parks and related facilities to create job opportunities.

• Providing construction loans and loan incentives for industrial and commercial facility construction.

• Redeveloping existing vacant commercial or industrial structures for appropriate rouse,

• Providing small business loan assistance and neighborhood-level investment to generate jobs and expansion within the small community-based business sector.

• Offering job training and development to the unemployed so that they can obtain employment or attain now skills required to improve employment choices.

Anti-Poverty Strategy

Agencies within the Consortium have initiated a number of innovative actions to focus on decreasing poverty in the area, For example, the Escambia County Workfare program and the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services Project Independence have placed welfare recipients in the work environment. This State initiative and the local program target the welfare-dependent family, with an emphasis on meeting their needs in a manner intended to ultimately break the cycle of poverty and prevent continuing or future dependency.

The Private Industry Council of Escambia County, the Santa Rosa Private Industry Council, and the local Job Training Partnership Act Program administering agencies within the Consortium provide an array of vocational and basic educational services designed to help low-income, unemployed, underemployed, and displaced workers find long-term employment.

Housing and Community Development Resources

In addition to Federal resources, the Consortium will have available private and non-profit resources. First-time homebuyer assistance, housing rehabilitation, and rental development objectives are dependent on the cooperation and support of local private financial institutions, primarily banks and mortgage lenders.

Numerous housing- and neighborhood-related services are provided to those in need through the non-profit sector. Some examples of services available in the Consortium include construction of affordable housing units by Habitat for Humanity; development of affordable rental units by Community Equity Investments and AMR at Pensacola; operation of a runaway youth shelter by Lutheran Ministries; and the provision of housing and services for the homeless by Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen, the Salvation Army, and the Waterfront Mission.

Coordination of Strategic Plan

The Escambia County Board of County Commissioners is responsible for overseeing and directing the implementation of the Consolidated Plan. However, each jurisdiction has a lead agency with direct administrative responsibility. In Escambia County, the lead agency is the Neighborhood Enterprise Foundation, Inc.; in Pensacola, the city Housing Department is the lead agency; and in Santa Rosa County, the West Florida Regional Planning Council is the lead agency. Implementing activities through intergovernmental cooperative efforts has proven to be a workable and efficient arrangement for the Consortium.

Description of Key Projects

During the first year of the Consolidated Plan, some key projects proposed by the Escambia County Consortium will be funded as follows:

Projects to be Implemented in Unincorporated Escambia County:

• $400,000 for completion of the paving and drainage project in the Ensley community.

• $750,000 to provide assistance for low- and moderate-income families to purchase lots where affordable homes are constructed.

• $700,000 to provide housing rehabilitation loan or grant assistance for low and moderate income persons.

• $150,000 to assist approximately 15 low- and moderate-income families to attain homeownership in existing housing,

• $212,000 to complete planning, design, and construction of improvements to Escambia County public facilities that will improve accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Projects to be Implemented in the City of Pensacola and Escambia County;

• $327,535 for tenant-based rental assistance to 75 households.
• $109,000 to support the operation of Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen, Inc.

Projects to be Implemented in the City of Pensacola:

• $571,978 to provide housing rehabilitation loan and grant assistance to low and moderate income homeowners,

• $150,000 will be provided to fund a loan guarantee program which will leverage private financing to assist low and moderate income families with the rehabilitation of their homes,

• $115,000 will be expended to implement a drainage project on DeVilliers Street which is located in a low and moderate income neighborhood.

• $70,000 will be expended to allow the Escambia County Council on Aging to provide meals on wheels and other services to the elderly.

• $74,300 will provide low income parents with day care services under a family Self Sufficiency Project designed to help the families reduce their dependence on public assistance.

Maps

MAP 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.

MAP 3 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels.

MAP 4 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and unemployment levels.

MAP 5 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and proposed HUD funded projects.

TABLE (without associated map) provides information about the project(s).