By TREY CHRISTY trey.christy@newssun.com SEBRING -- Earlier in the year, Highlands County Habitat for Humanity was approached by the county commission to take over a housing development project after another non-profit company opted out of the program. Originally the development, located on 20 acres off of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., was slated to hold 68 single family homes. "Eventually we came up with an agreement in principle," said Highlands County Habit for Humanity Executive Director Michael Jacobson. "One hundred families served is better than 50 served; commercial space is better than no commercial space; greenspace is better than no greenspace." The new plan presented at Tuesday's county commission meeting drastically changed the original plans, including raising the number of homes available to 100. "I think we need to try to capitalize on Habitat's good thoughts and ideas here," said Commissioner C. Guy Maxcy about the proposed changes. Jacobson explained the reason behind the population shift in an interview after Tuesday's meeting. "Look at the burgeoning number of working families looking for affordable, safe places to live," he said. "It made sense to get some more density and take the bite out of our family inventory." The plan features townhouses with four homes to a structure, saving space while utilizing the extra room for commercial usage and greenspace, including a large community park. "In addition to building these homes we are requesting we be able to build 10,000 square feet of commercial space to attract a convenience store, maybe a daycare center or a small bank," he said. "If we can bring those to the community it makes for a much more sustainable village-type concept." In a letter to the board dated Aug. 19, Jacobson mentioned similar large-scale subdivisions built by Habitat affiliates in Collier, Lee, Sarasota and Pinellas counties. Sarasota County, where Jacobson worked with Habitat earlier in the year before taking over the local affiliate, has completed plans to build a 230-unit mixed income, multi-family community with childcare facility, community center and pool, he said. "It is important to maximize intelligently the opportunity this 20 acres allows and serve as many families as reasonably possible," he wrote in the letter. The fastest growing segment of the local workforce will likely be in those positions that pay the least, Jacobson wrote in the letter. "(They) will have decent ... safe places to live, be able to own the land, property, the house, which gets them more invested in the community and all that comes with it," he said. "It's the American Dream."
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