New housing complex in works for old Salisbury mall property. What council's considering.
The proposed Village at Salisbury Lake, an expansive development of single-family homes and townhomes in Salisbury, was the topic of the most recent City Council work session to discuss funding for the project.
The development would include 131 single-family units and 88 townhomes built on the open land off Civic Avenue, St. Alban's Drive and Glen Avenue, the long-vacant stretch of land that once housed the old Salisbury mall.
The issue before the Salisbury City Council was the application by NVR, Inc. the builder, for Tax Increment Financing. That is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects.
Through the use of such monies, municipalities typically divert future property tax revenue increases from a defined area or district toward an economic development project or public improvement project in the community.
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Affordable housing projects as means of investing in the community
"When we talk about affordable housing, we often talk about rentals, but we have to look at the long game," said Council President D'Shawn Doughty. "We want people to be invested in our community and themselves in that lasting impact of home ownership. We need to think about bringing on development that is affordable for young families, young professionals and retirees. We need it to be at a good price point and still be a quality home."
According to Doughty, financial incentives are part of the modern language of municipal housing development. Amid inflation in the costs of home construction, he noted the city "has to get creative" to attract new homebuyers and retain locals to reinvest in the city's property tax base. That means working with developers to do so.
"If we don't do this, then Salisbury stays where it is now. While everyone has a different idea of what the city should be, we still need to build a place that consistently continues to evolve with its needs. The (builder) wanted to be community partners and build responsibly," Doughty said.
While the city's planning commission approved the project's comprehensive plan on July 20, 2023, the council still had questions about the details of TIF funding. By establishing a uniform policy for the use of TIF monies, then any future application for a development would be treated in an unbiased manner, the council stipulated.
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Salisbury City Council decides issue needs more investigation
"The way that this is presented to the council now is we propose them for comment and the application addresses how they (comply) with city policies," said Reiss Rosenthal of NVR, Inc. "It also indicates how it would fit TIF polices and guidelines and we propose the application be posted on the city website and other community forums like any other applicant."
Following the presentation, the City Council agreed more time was needed to examine the details of the application and the general procedures for TIF requests in general. According to the council, they will return with comments and revisions by Monday, April 1.
Members of the public voiced their opinion, noting they were still skeptical of the use of a TIF program saying their financial impact on the city was largely unknown. While other residents questioned how often such measures were used, the council was told they were already in use in Baltimore, Washington, DC, and other municipalities across the country.
Finally, the public warned against making TIF Policies too general, and thus making it easy for any developer to say they cannot proceed with a project without such municipal dollars.
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This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Old Salisbury mall property could get housing complex. What to know.
