MDA Announces First Small Rental Program Site Work
From: MDA News Release   Filed 3/7/08  GCN

Jackson, Miss --- In accordance with Governor Haley Barbour’s priority to develop an unprecedented number of affordable housing units within the four South Mississippi counties hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) is pleased to announce the first site work pertaining to its Small Rental Assistance Program has begun.

Applicants --- who include people owning existing small rental units and those who plan to build them --- can expect environmental and site inspection teams to investigate their properties soon, as these teams are now on the Coast collecting data to evaluate whether small rental applicant sites meet federal environmental regulatory requirements and local and state building requirements.

“These environmental reviews are required by federal regulations, but they’re also designed to protect the tenants, to ensure they’ll be renting a safe place to live,” said Lee Youngblood, Communications Director for MDA’s Disaster Recovery Division. “It’s also designed to help the property owner, too.  By providing these environmental reviews free of charge by approved contractors, the property owner is assured of an objective review that’s geared only toward helping them comply with requirements and ensuring that their property is used for the program’s intended purpose, providing affordable housing”.

These reviews will evaluate various environmental considerations at each site which may include historical buildings, archaeological sites, contaminated sites, potential lead-containing deteriorated paint surfaces, wetlands protection, endangered species, and the presence of aboveground storage tanks that may pose an explosive or flammable hazard to occupants, among other things.

The environmental reviews will be conducted by URS Corporation, working for MDA. Professionals in a variety of disciplines will work with representatives of Waggoner Engineering and Horne LLC, to gather information that ensures conformity to local and state building regulations.  MDA warns applicants that anyone attempting to charge for these evaluations is fraudulent.

In addition to verifying compliance with local building code requirements, the inspectors will review the applicant’s plans or existing structures to ensure the units meet the Small Rental Assistance Program’s size, composition of property, number of units and availability of utilities standards.  The Small Rental Assistance Program is part of Governor Barbour’s goal of providing up to 20,000 affordable housing units in Harrison, Hancock, Pearl River and Jackson counties, leaving more affordable housing stock on the Coast than was there before Katrina’s landfall.

“In some cases, the inspection team won’t have to go onto the property, but in other cases a site visit may be required and the team will contact the owner and arrange a visit,” Youngblood continued.

As part of the program requirements, property owners must rent all of their rental units to tenants with incomes at or below 120 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). Additionally, the majority of the rental units must be rented to tenants with incomes at or below 80 percent of AMI.  More information on the Small Rental Assistance Program can be found at MDA’s website www.mississippi.org, click on “disaster recovery.”