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Dansville inches closer to new, cheap housing

In print: Wednesday, April 16, 2008

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The pace of Pinellas County's improvements in the Dansville neighborhood sometimes seems as slow as molasses, but that the efforts are continuing even during a tough budget year warrants praise.

Dansville, a low-income neighborhood off Ulmerton Road west of Largo, was long overlooked by Pinellas County, until a 1992 tornado woke up county officials to the serious needs there. The county not only provided aid related to the storm, but also established a community redevelopment area and began improving the neighborhood's streets and underground utilities.

Another of the county's goals was to provide land for the construction of affordable housing in Dansville. Some of the housing in Dansville is substandard, and the need for new, affordable homes was great even before the recent economic downturn. Now, the need is only growing.

That's why the county's application for grant funding was a step in the right direction and why the announcement last week that it had won $600,000 was such good news.

The grant is from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the money is intended to pay for the environmental cleanup of three properties in Dansville that are former landfills. The county bought the three parcels for housing, but then learned that garbage and old appliances were buried there. The EPA grant, awarded through the federal brownfield cleanup program, will allow the county to excavate the properties and fill the holes with clean soil.

The work will begin late this year, which means that sometime next year, the county may be able to move ahead with the delayed construction of affordable homes there. The county hopes for dozens of new single-family homes that can be sold at below-market prices to worthy applicants.

The program holds the promise of renewal for Dansville, which has a significant population of elderly, low-income residents. With an influx of new residents feeling the pride of home ownership, the community may enjoy a more prosperous future.