On Thursday, March 28, Susan Jones, Community Development Specialist, attended an informational meeting at the Housing Authority of Champaign County to address concerns on the proposed housing development to be located at 702 Cobblefield in Champaign. Four representatives from the condo association located directly south of the proposed site attended the meeting to inquire about the building structures, the ownership of the development, maintenance of the site, and the qualifications for residing in the units.
Torian Priestly of the Benoit Group, addressed the questions from the group and outlined the plans and specifications for the building units. Some of the issues the group had involved keeping the tree line on the north side of the location and traffic patterns in and around the development. Mr. Priestly explained that the Housing Authority is using the Moving to Work Program to develop this project and the requirements that residents will have to adhere to in order to lease a unit. The Moving to Work Program requires all children between 7-18 to be in school and for at least one adult in the household to be working 20 hours a week or attending school to improve their work skills. Mr. Priestly explained that 26 units at this site will be reserved for “market rate” rental and anyone will be eligible to rent the units. The remaining units will be available to households with 60% or less of median income. An example would be that a household of 4 could earn up to $42,840 annually and qualify to rent a unit.
At the end of the evening, the homeowners association seemed pleased with the answer to their questions and concerns about the development. The homeowners association even inquired whether it would be possible to work with the Benoit Group to work on bringing the UC2B internet connection from Staley Road to the development site as well as their condo association.