Washington’s City Council took steps to help correct Washington’s housing shortage last night. Already short on housing, projections show that Daviess County will need over 1,000 new residences in the next eight years to meet the area’s growing population.
On Monday night, the Council acted on request from two developers that would add approximately 200 housing units on the east side of Washington. The Council approved rezoning a tract of land on Bussard Road that would allow the construction of twenty townhouses and approximately 30 single family residences.
The Council also began the process that would establish an economic development district which would allow TIF funds to be used for infrastructure for a proposed 144-unit apartment development in the area behind Casey’s on East National Highway. Rent for the apartment complex would be market based and will not be government subsidized housing. Mayor Rhoads says he and the Economic Development Corporation have been working on this project for over 10 months…
The Bussard Road development is tentatively called Buffalo Trace and the new apartment complex will be known as Cyprus Point.
In other business, the Council heard the first reading of an amendment to city ordinances controlling livestock and poultry inside the city limits. Under the proposed ordinance, all livestock, and poultry currently in the city would have to be registered and no new animals could be housed inside the city. The proposed ordinance will be considered for passage at the next Council meeting.
The Board of works met after the Council meeting and awarded the contract to farm two tracts of city land to Armes Boys Farms for the bid of $201 per acre. The Board also approved a list of organizations receiving City support.
