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Carroll County Housing Assessment Is Opportunity Catalyst

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Technical committee members, Jim Auen and Clay Haley, and CADC Executive Director, Shannon Landauer, explain the results and uses of the Carroll County Housing Assessment

 

After a five month delay, the three entities who spent $10,000 each to develop the Carroll County Housing Assessment, received the first printed copies of the report drafted by RDG Planning and Design of Omaha, Neb. and Des Moines. Shannon Landauer, executive director of the Carroll Area Development Corporation (CADC) was joined by members of the technical committee to provide an overview of the 100 page document to their partners, Carroll County and the City of Carroll in several meetings over the course of the day on Monday. The assessment, which was commissioned in August of 2015, is meant to be a factual representation of where the county is, said technical committee member Jim Auen. This is a snapshot of where we are and not a compilation of opinions.

The committee was unanimous in saying the most notable surprise was the parallel between what young professionals and seniors are looking for in housing. From the pool of over 1,500 survey and public meeting participants, members in these categories said they were looking for low maintenance properties with specific finishes. Carroll County Supervisor, Gene Meiners pointed out another surprising result.

Auen and the rest of the committee said the assessment highlighted the fact that there is not a housing crisis, but there are definite needs. In addition to being an invaluable tool for each community to develop their own housing plans to meet their vision, this will also be a critical resource for developers and investors to use for evaluation of current and long-range opportunities over the 10-year predicted growth and housing needs that are clearly defined in the assessment. Though no long-term goals have been set by this committee, they will remain intact to benchmark housing changes and growth as it emerges from this data. Auen said they are not gatekeepers in telling people how to use this information, in fact, he believes it will be a source for great dialogue. Committee member and Carroll County Supervisor, Neil Bock said the team is there to support and help explain the document.

The next steps for the committee will be working with communities in the study to define responsibilities and goals and to assist with implementing the ideas that work best for them. Most importantly, they want to get the document out into the public to start generating that out-of-the-box thinking and dialogue. Copies of the assessment are free and available to the general public in hard copy form at the Carroll Chamber of Commerce offices, or a digital version can be downloaded from the Chamber’s website at Click Here. On Tuesday, May 17, Amy Haase of RDG Planning and Design will hold public forums to afford everyone the opportunity to ask questions on the assessments. There will be two sessions, the first beginning at 4 p.m. and the second at 7 p.m., both taking place at the Harold Bierl Community Room at 407 W. 5th Street. Members of the CADC and the technical committee will also be happy to answer any questions people have on the study.

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