Dallas City News

Luzerne County is setting up a coalition to address a shortage of affordable housing, officials announced this week.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo said the issue has come up during many public meetings since she was hired to the position last May, largely due to a continuing rise in large commercial development stemming from the region’s proximity to major highways and markets.

“It’s a very serious concern,” Crocamo said of affordable housing during the announcement at this week’s council work session.

Crocamo said a framework on the structure of the coalition will be presented to county council. A system also must be set up to identify those interested in serving.

“It’s going to be a lift, but I think we need to do it,” Crocamo said. “We can’t keep kicking the can down the road.

Crocamo credited county Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott and the council real estate committee McDermott chairs for initiating discussion about ways the county can assist, including the coalition creation.

McDermott said she met with county grants writer Michele Sparich, county Community Development Director Catherine Hilsher and Pittston Mayor Michael Lombardo to help develop the coalition plan.

The panel will include mayors and county and municipal leaders, she said.

Input also will be sought from representatives of non-profit organizations that specialize in affordable housing, homeless shelters and local housing developers and construction companies, she said.

McDermott has said she asked Pittston Mayor Lombardo to help because he has been immersed in studying the importance of adequate housing.

Lombardo has been trying to drum up regional interest in tackling the need for more affordable housing, stressing he is not talking about low-income housing because that sector already has been largely addressed through public housing programs.

During significant growth cycles like the one now underway, area leaders should consider what related needs must be addressed, and affordable housing is a big one, Lombardo has said.

Swoyersville resident Greg Griffin and Hazleton resident Mark Rabo have repeatedly raised concerns about the impact new commercial development will have on an existing lack of affordable housing for purchase or rent.

McDermott said The Institute in Wilkes-Barre is assisting with research on affordable housing.

The coalition will advocate for policies and funding that support affordable housing initiatives, “aiming to create an enabling environment for sustainable solutions,” McDermott said.

She promised regular progress reviews to measure the impact of coalition initiatives.

“We are excited about this potential of the housing coalition and the positive impact that it will bring to our community,” McDermott told her colleagues.

McDermott has said she wants to explore available programs, funding resources and past initiatives that have worked, such as residential development at the former Murray Courtright Complex on Courtright Street in Wilkes-Barre.

In that $9.3 million residential project, the nonprofit Housing Development Corporation of Northeast Pennsylvania built 20 energy-efficient houses for first-time buyers and 12 rental cottages for the elderly on a 13-acre parcel that once contained a blighted complex damaged by fire, according to published reports.

The Courtright development was modeled after the Pine Street complex in downtown Hazleton — a three-block area with 26 affordable homes.

Prior county commissioners had allocated $2 million in county community development funds toward the Courtright development in 2009 and 2011 in addition to obtaining a $2.4 million federal grant for the project. Some of the community development funding came from a special housing trust fund set up to assist first-time home buyers that still exists.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.