St. Joseph task force works to address housing needs

By Chris Fortune

Leaders from the St. Joseph community gathered at the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday to discuss housing needs and how to incentivize living in the city.

The Housing Task Force is a group comprised of city staff, county commissioners and members of the business community. It works in tandem with the St. Joseph Comprehensive Plan, which is a guide to help decide future growth and development in the city leading up to the year 2040.

Planning and Community Development Director Clint Thompson said the task force started about six months ago and represents a diverse group across the community.

“It is really intended to try to move the community forward and address housing needs as an organization,” he said. “The city, the Chamber of Commerce and the county worked together in promoting and attracting business to St. Joseph and retaining existing business.”

Providing adequate and new housing is a goal the group identified to develop the city’s workforce.

“I think it’s an important aspect to be able to provide a balance of what housing is needed in your community,” he said.

Partnering with developers who understand the needs of the community is one strategy the task force is utilizing to strike a balance between affordable and market-rate housing.

“I think St. Joseph, as we talked about … has some needs in both of those categories,” he said. “And so moving forward, how can this group help provide a solution to address those needs that exist in our housing market?”

The group discussed apartment-style units and the need to provide amenities, like additional grocery stores near residential areas, to entice individuals to stay in the city.

“We have a workforce and labor force that is available, but also sometimes we have a lack of adequate housing needed to house those individuals,” he said. “And so those individuals may work in the community. But then, at the end of the day, travel back somewhere outside of the community.”

Thompson said the task force is also working to identify ways to improve the conditions of older neighborhoods and redevelop vacant lots.

“We have a limited amount of vacant property in the community, and whether it’s vacant land that’s in a greenfield site or vacant land in some of our older communities, there’s a lot of vacant houses that exist in St. Joseph,” he said.

Reimagining the use of residential and commercial property was discussed during the task force meeting to leverage the assets in the community, like its workforce.

“Some of our older commercial locations or even existing newer commercial locations along our Belt Highway are prime areas for potential housing consideration,” he said. “I think this group is focused on thinking differently than what typically the community and how we’ve developed in the past.”

Thompson said using the resources the city has available and working with the public will be essential in the implementation of the task force housing plan.

“It’s a long-range plan,” he said. “However, to accomplish the goals that we identified 20 years out, you have to begin and do it in small increments.”