Feedback wanted on Charleston Co. affordable housing plan

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston County Council is hoping to address affordable housing, and they are asking for your feedback on their plans.

The council has designated $20 million in American Rescue Plan funds to address affordable housing. Their plan, called the Housing Our Future Project, now has a detailed draft for action over the next decade, and officials want to hear your thoughts on it.

Department Head of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization Amanda Ramage says a lot of work already went into the document with community meetings last year to guide the plan. Now, they want to hear from people again about the actual plan.

“The reason why it’s important is this is a document that is looking at the long term,” Ramage said. “And so we need citizens or residents’ feedback, to provide us with their thoughts on that and they’ll help us take this information back to the consultants for them to make any type of adjustments that they see that need to be made, and have that provided to the county council for them to make their decisions.”

The plan has five main goals, with a total of 27 strategies to actually achieve those goals.

Some of the close-to-being-achieved actions are establishing an affordable housing trust fund, creating a micro-loan program to help renters avoid eviction and expanding available down payment and homebuyer education.

Other long-term strategies include working with major employers to invest in housing, working with legislators and aligning zoning and land use rules across cities within the county.

“And we are very excited about this opportunity to go back into the community and seek their input and their thoughts on this,” Ramage said. “And so for the next steps, if you want to take a look at the plan, it’s very comprehensive, we also do have that four-page highlight overview. So please take a look at the website, and we look forward to the opportunity to come out and hear citizens’ thoughts.”

Affordable housing is defined as when residents pay 30% or less of their monthly income to their housing. The county estimates it and its partners would need a bare minimum of $450 million to meet the demand for households with incomes less than 80% of the average median income. The county also predicts needing an estimated 29,000 to 36,000 new units of housing over the coming decade.

Ramage says if you have questions about the plan, the best thing to do comes to a community meeting where there will be clarification and discussion.

You can read the plan and its overview by clicking here:

You can provide public comment online by clicking here:

You can find a public meeting schedule by clicking here:

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