Williamsburg Notebook: City Will Apply For Grant To Redevelop Blayton Building

By Amber Lester Kennedy Friday, March 11, 2011

The Williamsburg City Council unanimously approved a plan to apply for state funds to redevelop the Blayton Building.

The city gave the go-ahead to apply for a $472,710 Community Development Block Grant administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. To apply, council had to pass a resolution.

The city hopes to secure $9 million to $9.5 million to redevelop the Blayton Building, a home for the city’s low- and middle-income residents who are elderly and/or disabled. The complex would expand to offer 92 rooms, along with walking grounds. The project will provide much-needed housing, according to Assistant City Manager Jodi Miller, who told the council that the city Housing Authority has a waiting list of 300 names for its public housing.

The block grant would pay for the relocation of existing storm sewer, construction of a new storm drainage system, construction of a new parking lot and construction of a courtyard, landscaping, a storm water retention pond and new lighting. The application is due at the end of the month, and the recipients should be announced in June.

For the project to happen, the city must also obtain funds from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city and the Williamsburg Redevelopment Housing Authority.

At the same meeting, the city unanimously agreed to make zoning changes to help the city comply with the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Designation and Management Regulations. The changes deal with minor site plan submittal requirements, such as changes to the location of building setback lines and landscape plan requirements.