Jackson, MS - Tougaloo College Seminar, Aug. 20-21

On August 21st, Tougaloo College, in Jackson, Mississippi, will host a session entitled "Economic Development, Transportation, Housing and Community Development" as part of the Tougaloo College Community Leaders Institute, sponsored by the Medical University of South Carolina - Southeastern VIEW, City of Jackson, US Department of Energy and Tougaloo College.  The purpose of the Institute is to reinforce this principle and to emphasize the unique relationship between environmental protection, human health, environmental justice and economic development as an essential part of community development.   The session will include a discussion on brownfield opportunities and will focus on creating a plan to stimulate the retention, expansion and attraction of businesses/economic development to the community.  Among the speakers are:

• Honorable Harold Mitchell, State Representative, South Carolina House of Representatives, Thirty-first District, Director of Regenesis, Spartanburg, SC,


• Trey Hess, MS Brownfield Program Coordinator for the MS Department of Environmental Quality


• Dr. Glenda Glover, Dean of School of Business, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS


• Ms. Trina George, Mississippi Director for Rural Development, USDA, Jackson, MS (Invited)


• Dr. John Perkins, Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and Development, Jackson, MS (Invited)


• Mr. Hollis Watkins, Chairman, Southern Echo, Jackson, MS (Invited)


• Mr. Byron C. Marshall, Chief Administrative Officer, Richmond, VA

Registration is free and a brochure/registration form is available at: http://www.tougaloo.edu/files/cli-2010.pdf
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities

ICMA has recently published "Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities."  This publication is designed to provide rural decision-makers with a resource for balancing competing goals while creating more vibrant, sustainable communities. It is intended to show how smart growth approaches can be adapted and applied in the rural context, particularly in times of change. Following a brief discussion of key issues facing different types of rural communities and how smart growth is perceived in rural environments, the majority of this publication addresses how to put smart growth into practice in rural communities. This third section of this publication is framed around three key goals, which can help a community pursue its vision for accommodating and attracting sensible growth in the future, while maintaining and enhancing its rural character and quality of life.

The three goals are:

1. Support the rural landscape by creating an economic climate that enhances the viability of working lands and conserves natural lands;


2. Help existing places thrive by taking care of assets and investments such as downtowns, Main Streets, existing infrastructure, and places that the community values; and


3. Create great new places by building vibrant, enduring neighborhoods and communities that people, especially young people, don’t want to leave.*

*Excerpt from the Introduction

Senate Panels Back Federal Grants For Sustainable Communities

CQ (8/4, Carter) reports that the Senate, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Tuesday backed a bill (S 1619) that "would establish within the Department of Housing and Urban Development an office to develop initiatives to help urban, suburban, and rural communities plan for and create affordable places to live and work." The bill "is about helping our communities meet vital future needs, in a flexible, fiscally responsible and environmentally sustainable way, while also increasing transportation and housing choices for our citizens,'" said committee chairman and bill "sponsor" Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT).

On August 6th, 2009, S. 1619 was introduced by Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut. S. 1619 would facilitate and improve the coordination of housing, community development, transportation, energy and environmental policy across policy areas which have been traditionally separated. The bill seeks to encourage regional planning across jurisdictions and provide for energy efficient housing options and transportation systems which help create sustainable communities. Further, S. 1619 would provide grant funding for local governments from FY 2010 to FY 2013 to support these efforts.

S. 1619 would establish in the executive branch of the federal government an independent Interagency Council on Sustainable Communities. This council would establish a grant funding program which would make comprehensive Planning Grants and Sustainability Challenge Grants to local governments working in partnership with other local governments or with a metropolitan or rural planning organization, a regional council or their respective states to support the development of sustainable communities.
S. 1619 proposes $300 million in Planning Grants which would support:

1. Local projects to coordinate land use, transportation and infrastructure planning processes across jurisdictions;


2. Creation of regional partnerships for developing and implementing a comprehensive regional plan for sustainable development (i.e. Smart Growth efforts);


3. Conducting or updating housing, infrastructure, transportation, energy and environmental assessments to determine regional needs and promote sustainable development;


4. The development or updating of existing regional plans;


5. The implementation of local zoning or other code changes necessary to implement comprehensive regional plans which promote sustainable development.

Grants would require a 20% local match and for Sonoma County the maximum eligible funding would be $1.5 million.  S. 1619 also proposes $3.75 billion for Sustainability Challenge Grants which would:

1. Promote integrated transportation, housing, energy, and economic development activities carried out across policyand governmental jurisdictions;


2. Promote sustainable and location-efficient development (i.e. transit-oriented development or "Smart growth" efforts;


3. Implement projects identified in a comprehensive regional plan.

Challenge Grants would also require a 20% local match.  S. 1619 is currently in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and is expected to be reviewed in Committee later this fall. The National Associations of Counties has already taken a position of support.

Loews Atlanta Hotel Redevelopment

[caption id="attachment_196" align="alignright" width="226" caption="The Loews Atlanta Hotel, the anchor of the 12th and Midtown mixed-use redevelopment project"][/caption]

ATLANTA - Located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta, the Loews Atlanta Hotel opened April 1, 2010 as the anchor of the 12th and
Midtown urban mixed-use development project. The property
underwent environmental investigation through Georgia’s Section
128(a) Response Program and was certified to be in compliance
with residential risk reduction standards. The $1.2 billion 12th and
Midtown project was assembled from numerous individual parcels,
many of which are also enrolled in Georgia’s Brownfields Program.
According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, opening of the Loews
Atlanta Hotel created 220 jobs. Loews Atlanta Hotel is within walking
distance to many of the city’s Fortune 500 companies, leading law
firms and world-renowned cultural venues including the Woodruff
Arts Center, the High Museum of Art, the Fox Theatre, Atlanta
Botanical Gardens and Piedmont Park. Loews Atlanta Hotel features
414 guest rooms, more than 25,000 square feet of meeting space,
and a spa and fitness center.