Macon City Council Member Proposes Redevelopment Task Force

Macon City Council member Lauren Benedict is calling for community leaders to set up an urban redevelopment task force which would focus on eliminating the housing blight in local neighborhoods.

Urban redevelopment is a major issue being focused on by campaigners and incumbents alike. Benedict says the task force would be made up of representatives from each of the neighborhoods included in the Urban Redevelopment Plan that Macon City Council passed in March. She says that plan was just the first step in starting the redevelopment process.

“The next step is to take that plan which is really just a shell, and start putting into place the tools that will help with economic revitalization,” Benedict said. “Who better to tell you what is needed or what is desired in a neighborhood than the people who live there?”

Benedict says she wants the task force to focus on vacant and rundown houses found throughout neighborhoods in Macon. She also says she’s had a positive community response to her proposal.