MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW)- Myrtle Beach City Council met for a workshop Thursday and discussed building affordable workforce housing.
They said it could help people like police officers, firefighters, teachers, and millennials live in the city they work in.
Myrtle Beach city leaders want to build affordable homes for working people who make 30,000 to 60,000 dollars a year. It’s a concept that’s getting attention in other cities across the country.
“There’s a difficulty in finding affordable housing for people that are making a decent income and have been out of school for a number of years but aren’t making the big bucks yet. Where do they live?,” said City Manager John Pederson.
City manager John Pederson said this will also address housing for seasonal workers and J1 students.
“It’s always been a concern about where do they stay, where do they live, making sure they don’t live in overcrowded conditions, that they’re safe, and in clean facilities,” said Pedserson.
To pay for this, city council proposed a quarter percent increase on new construction permits. Now, city council will decide on creating an 11 person committee to work on the concept.
“We also would involve people who would represent the realtors, the home builders, Habitat for Humanity, and New Directions,” said Pederson.
Myrtle Beach leaders said they had issues with city employees not living in the city when they were facing Hurricane Florence.
“We were concerned about how we are going to get our employees that may live in the outskirts of the county here given what we expected the devastation to be,” said Pederson.
Forming a committee is on City Council’s agenda and they will meet again on January 8th.
