Council approves home rehabs in Carver area

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — Residents encouraged Kannapolis City Council to use federal dollars to rehabilitate houses in the fragile Carver neighborhood, adjacent to downtown Kannapolis.

Council voted Monday to spend $53,000 left over in a residential improvement fund to bring at least one house in the Carver area, and possibly several, up to code.

"We want to revitalize the area and bring the houses up to standards," resident Angela Perkins said. "We want to give people a reason to want to move to the Carver area, not move away."

If the city becomes more involved in the neighborhood by rehabilitating and buying homes, adjoining property owners are more likely to make improvements to their own homes, residents said.

Using additional federal funds worth $125,000, council also agreed to buy at least two properties — one in Carver and another in the Bethel area — then rehabilitate them in partnership with Cooperative Christian Ministries.

The city will lease the homes to CCM for $1 per year. The nonprofit organization will move previously homeless families into the properties, helping them transition to home ownership.

All the money comes from the Cabarrus/Iredell/Rowan HOME Consortium, part of a federal community development block grant.

Council formed the partnership last year, when the city bought several homes and leased them to CCM for homeless families to rent.

Qualified families may purchase the homes at the end of the program, and all eligible families purchasing houses in the Carver revitalization area will receive down payment assistance from the city, using federal dollars.

Money from any home sale will go back to the city in a revolving fund, City Manager Mike Legg said.

The partnership with CCM marks the city's return to residential rehabilitation. The city rehabilitated dozens of homes throughout Kannapolis about a decade ago, with mixed results.

"In some instances, we felt the money was wasted," Mayor Bob Misenheimer said. "The renovations that were done were not quality renovations. It was like throwing money down a rat hole."

The work needs to be more closely supervised, Misenheimer said.

"Some folks got ripped off," council member Randy Cauthen said.

While previous rehabilitation occurred citywide, City Council has focused more recent revitalization efforts in the Carver area due to its proximity to the N.C. Research Campus, Legg said.

Next month, architecture students from N.C. State University will present to council a comprehensive revitalization plan for the Carver area, Legg said. A grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation funded the yearlong study, but the city will have to find additional money to implement it, Legg said.By June 30, city staff will choose homes in the Carver area for rehabilitation. They have an old, long list of homeowners who showed interest in having their homes brought up to code a decade ago.

Staff will begin to identify homes on the list that still qualify, Legg said.

The city will use competitive bids to hire contractors for the rehab work. Staff members and Habitat for Humanity leaders are also discussing a partnership, said Sherry Jones, the city's community development program administrator.

"In the past, we have gone to a community and rehabbed and nothing has changed...We haven't improved the community," council member Ken Geathers said. "But now the Carver community is taking some pride."

Unrelated to Monday's action, the city has moved ahead with three home purchases and rehabilitation projects in partnership with CCM, which were approved in 2009.

"So, we don't have any CCM homes completed yet, but we are progressing," Legg said in an e-mail. "A year from now, we may have at least five homes occupied (possibly six) through the CCM partnership."