Hattiesburg's 1995 Consolidated Plan constitutes a strategic vision for housing and community development for the city. This document summarizes the plan so that citizens in the community can have a quick overview of the housing and community development problems; the 3-year broad objectives and actions proposed to meet those goals; and specific projects for carrying out this strategy during 1995.
The goals of the city of Hattiesburg Neighborhood Improvement Program (NIP) are as follows:
The Consolidated Plan includes a 1-year action plan for six projects, spending
approximately $1 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds in
1995. Those funds will be spent on housing rehabilitation, public works, and
administration/planning.
On September 20, 1994, the Hattiesburg Mayor and City Council adopted a comprehensive citizen participation plan to ensure all residents an opportunity to review and comment on all aspects of its community development programming. For this consolidated planning process, local government entities and area nonprofits completed needs assessments in their areas of expertise. Neighborhood hearings were held at three sites picked by the neighborhoods themselves, and copies of the proposed consolidated plan activities were made available at several locations prior to those hearings.
Located in southeast Mississippi, Hattiesburg is a city of 41,882 persons. Thirty-two percent of all persons have incomes below the poverty level. Forty percent are African-American and almost 60 percent are white. Twelve percent of the population live alone and 13 percent are elderly. The city is known as a retirement community because of its medical facilities and proximity to many retirement destinations along the Gulf of Mexico coast.
Although Hattiesburg was only recently designated as a CDBG Program Entitlement Community, it has been involved with strategic planning for almost 10 years. The NIP was initiated in 1989 as a comprehensive city response to neighborhoods. Teams of employees from line departments became the primary link between government and neighborhood groups, which improved the city's ability to address complex issues of infrastructure, at-risk youth, and crime.
The housing market of Hattiesburg is strained, with supplies of both rental and owner property not meeting demand. The median house price is $46,400 and the median gross rent is $304. Excessive cost burdens do not appear to be a problem. Of the 17,714 housing units in Hattiesburg, 48.3 percent are rental units and 41.5 percent are owner occupied. This proportion of renters to owners is atypical, and is due partly to the presence of the University of Southern Mississippi. Ten percent of all housing units are vacant and the average age of housing is 29 years. The primary housing need in Hattiesburg is for owner rehabilitation of substandard housing. The most cited request for housing assistance is for emergency repairs, such as roofing, plumbing, and electrical systems.
Assistance for the homeless, approximately 261 persons in Hattiesburg, is very limited at this time. Although the majority of the homeless population are single adults (55.5 percent), there has been an increase in the number of families and single mothers requesting assistance (now 37.5 percent). Only about 31 percent of the homeless are served by emergency shelters, and none are served by reception/day centers or transitional housing. (Transitional housing for five families was available as of January 1995.) Almost half of those served by the emergency shelters are homeless families. Four agencies have facilities for housing the homeless; services for the handicapped and mentally ill are available at some of these facilities. The Hattiesburg Coalition for the Homeless was formed in February 1994 to coordinate homeless services.
The Public Housing Authority of Hattiesburg currently has 120 housing units. Although these units were built in the 1940s, they are in good condition structurally. However, there is a need for modernization of these units due to ordinary wear and tear. To improve accessibility for the handicapped, 12 units will be converted with special Comprehensive Improvement Assistance Program funding, and sidewalks have been replaced to provide wheelchair accessibility.
Over 70 percent of inquiries for public housing units are for two or more bedrooms. Fifty-six single-family units with three, four, or five bedrooms are currently under construction, which residents will be encouraged to purchase. There are 3 90 Section 8 properties in Hattiesburg. Over 250 people are on the Housing Authority's active waiting list, including those waiting for the 56 single-family units under construction.
Housing specifically for persons with AIDS is not currently available in Hattiesburg, although supportive services are provided in existing housing structures by the Hattiesburg AIDS Coalition.
Public policies do not appear to adversely impact housing affordability in Hattiesburg. Fees for single-family construction permits and inspection have been consolidated and lowered, which has had a positive impact on single-family construction. Furthermore, the Land Development Code of the city is flexible enough to encourage development of affordable housing.
The city has performed a review of impediments to fair housing and will prepare an action plan in FY 1995.
The city of Hattiesburg has performed an assessment of lead-based paint hazards in order to create a data base of that information. The city also has a housing inspector recently certified to perform lead-based paint analysis. According to the 1990 census, 81.9 percent of housing structures in Hattiesburg were built before 1980, making them more likely than newer homes to contain lead-based paint. Lead-based paint hazards are being investigated by the Hattiesburg Children's Clinic, the Pediatric Clinic P.A., and the Forrest County Health Department.
Public services and infrastructure are important to providing long-term improvement in the lives of low-income residents of Hattiesburg. The primary nonhousing community development need of the city is improved street drainage. Street drainage structures are deteriorated or nonexistent, especially in older neighborhoods. Redevelopment of business in the low-income areas of the city is also needed. Credit enhancement, training, and job development are the primary areas cited. Over the next few years, the city will need to develop new partnerships in the community to address these needs. In the implementation of its strategic plan, Hattiesburg anticipates working with local banks, churches, nonprofits, county agencies, and regional bodies.
The 3-year strategic plan outlines a strategy to deal with housing and community development needs. The preexistent Neighborhood Investment Plan (NIP) will be the major means of coordination for the plan, whose objectives are shown on the first page of this summary.
Financial resources will come from various Federal programs, while technical assistance and implementation of the strategic plan are expected to come from a variety of local government agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and churches. The plan contains a listing of financial, technical assistance, and implementation resources.
Objective 1. Improve housing stock in low- and moderate-income areas. Among the proposed actions are: providing owner-occupied housing rehabilitation loans to approximately 100 low-income residents, providing emergency home repair loans to approximately 150 low-income residents, reinstating the rental rehabilitation program partnership with developers to improve approximately 40 units of rental housing, demolishing at least 60 dilapidated or abandoned structures in low-income areas, providing housing counseling as needed for participants in the rehab program, encouraging reinvestment by local financial institutions, maintaining a data base on lead-based paint hazard areas, and conducting a survey of housing conditions in low- and moderate-income areas.
Objective 2. Enhance services provided to the homeless. Among the proposed actions are: active participation by the city in the Homeless Coalition, implementation of a clearinghouse of services for the homeless or those at risk of homelessness, and the encouragement of grant applications by homeless service providers.
Objective 3. Improve drainage infrastructures in low- and moderate-income areas. The city proposes to target improvements of curbs, gutters, storm drains, catch basins, inlets, pipes, and paving to low-income areas as needed.
Objective 4. Increase participation of residents in targeted areas and linkages with public- and private-sector service providers. Among the proposed activities are: conducting interim public hearings in targeted neighborhoods to measure project progress and assess needs, investigating the need for a community advisory council, involving area churches in the redevelopment process by holding workshops on request, continuing the Community Policing Unit, starting an "Adopt an Area" program in target areas for housing and drainage, and improving relations with local financial institutions.
Objective 5. Reduce the number of households living below the poverty line. Among the proposed activities are: increasing availability of loan monies in low-income areas for business development and expansion, providing information and referral for Job Training and Partnership Act programs, counseling housing rehabilitation loan recipients, and coordinating efforts with existing social service providers to ensure all available resources are utilized in addressing the needs of Hattiesburg's lowest income residents.
The 1-year action plan outlines the proposed uses of the approximately $1 million 1995 allocation from the CDBG program. The lead agency for the administration and implementation of the projects and activities will be the city of Hattiesburg Department of Planning and Community Development. Action plan activities will be in the areas of housing rehabilitation, public works, and planning/administration.
Housing rehabilitation activities costing $480,000 include:
The Department of Housing and Community Development will work closely with the Department of Administration, the Department of Public Services, and city auditors to ensure that grant funds are utilized and accounted for to meet all Federal and State requirements. Monitoring will be based on performance and reviewed by citizens. Plan progress will be evaluated by the following means:
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, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
MAP 6 is a map, sectioned by neighborhood, which depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
MAP 7 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects within one of the four neighborhoods indicated in MAP 6.
MAP 8 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded project(s) from a street level vantage point; in addition, a table provides information about the project(s).
