The County Has a Role in Addressing the Housing Crisis

I plan to use the County Commission to help address the housing shortage. Zoning and many tools for housing development rest with Townships, but the County Commission controls appointments to the Land Bank Authority, Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, and Road Commission. These boards have direct or indirect influence on housing development; the Board of Commissioners needs to make sure that the appointees understand the urgency of the housing problem and that they work on projects to support housing development of a variety of different types.

The County has a largely unused fund for housing rehabilitation; this was proposed and I believe used to help East Bay residents north of the Airport connect to municipal water when PFAS was detected in their well water. Use of this fund should be expanded to keep houses from turning into tear-downs.

The County should have a role in regional planning and should re-institute the planning effort.