At the Chula Vista City Council meeting Tuesday night, council members voted to implement a home makeover program to help decrease physical blight in the city.
The program, called One Block at a Time, provides forgivable loans of up to $30,000 for exterior improvements to single-family homes located within the southwest redevelopment project area in the Woodlawn Park and Broderick Acres neighborhoods.
The neighborhoods have the opportunity to participate in a zero-interest, seven-year, forgivable loan program, designed to promote long-term homeownership and investment in the neighborhood. The total amount of money available is $400,000.
Carla Blackmar, project coordinator for the Redevelopment Services Department, said she hopes the pilot program will help jump start things in the area and anticipates working with at least six homeowners to start.
Councilman Rudy Ramirez said he couldn’t support the item because it uses tax revenue for private individuals and homes and proposed using the money for sidewalks or drains.
Blackmar said the money wouldn’t get them far if they focused on community-based improvements.
Director of Development Services Gary Halbert said what it comes down to is the best way to spend the money.
“We’re hoping this will invest back into the community,” he said.
Lotus Drive in the Woodlawn Park area was the first block selected for the program.
