Warner Robins hearing aimed at transforming neighborhood

Residents of a southeast section of Warner Robins are invited to a public hearing aimed at finding ways to improve the area.

The hearing by the Warner Robins Development Authority is set for 6 p.m. Thursday in the precouncil chambers at City Hall. A second hearing will be held at the same time and location on May 4.

The area being targeted is bordered by Watson Boulevard, Armed Forces Boulevard, South Pleasant Hill Road and Russell Parkway.

Jeremy Gray, a consultant to the development authority, said the hearings are part of creating a community transformation plan for the designated area. The plan focuses on improving four services determined by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, which are education, transportation, health and employment.

Gray said representatives of organizations that are over those areas will be at the meeting. People who live in the target zone are invited to give thoughts on challenges they have in relation to those four areas.

“This is a good opportunity for people to have their voices heard about services,” Gray said. “We will have at the table the partners who can deliver the services.”

The plan will be submitted to the Department of Community Affairs as a part of a developer’s application for tax credits to build a housing complex near the Veterans Education Career Transition Resource Center, or VECTR. The housing development would include units at reduced rates for low-income residents, and the developer, Pennrose, has also promised free units for veterans who are attending VECTR.

The city has granted a letter of support for the development and will donate the land for it, but Pennrose is paying all of the construction costs. Although the tax credit application is the primary reason for creating the transformation plan, Gray said it is also part of the ongoing effort to improve that part of town, which includes the city’s tax allocation district.

The low-income housing tax credits are highly competitive, and many of them are turned down. Last year the city supported two projects that were turned down, and to improve the chances of getting an application approved, this year the city is supporting only the project near the VECTR center, Mayor Randy Toms said.

This story was originally published April 11, 2017 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Warner Robins hearing aimed at transforming neighborhood."