Money sought to redevelop Cobb-Coley Lane neighborhood
By Matt Shaw
Published in News on November 30, 2004 1:58 PM
Wayne County is asking the state for a $700,000 grant to improve the quality of life along Cobb-Coley Lane.
The county commissioners have chosen the neighborhood, off Durham Lake Road south of Goldsboro, as the focus for a Community Development Block Grant project.
If the N.C. Division of Community Assistance gives the grant, the county will pave the road, give the neighbors water and sewer hookups, and rehabilitate or replace housing.
The commissioners have offered to put up a $40,000 local match.
Although CDBG applications are a competitive process, Wayne County has a good chance of receiving a grant, David Harris of RSM Harris Associates Inc. told the commissioners.
Cobb-Coley Lane is an older subdivision, with most of its housing owner-occupied but substandard, he said. Wells and septic systems are failing, and the road needs to be paved. Residents cannot afford to make these repairs themselves.
"This is exactly the type of neighborhood that the state is looking for as a high priority in 2005-06," Harris said.
Harris Associates has managed the county's Parkstown CDBG project, which is nearing completion. It considered many parts of the county before it recommended Cobb-Coley Lane for the application.
Redbird Lane, which is nearby, was a close second and could be the next CDBG project, commissioners said.
The county received a $700,000 CDBG grant last year to address housing problems at Parkstown Road and Sam's Lane. That project is to be completed by year's end. In sum, nine households will have been relocated and three will have been repaired. Twelve lots will be cleared.