SALISBURY — The city’s Community Appearance Commission is accepting applications for two grant programs designed to improve urban properties in Salisbury.
Property owners in the Municipal Service District and along the Innes Street corridor are eligible to apply for financial grants funded by the city.
The improvement grant programs offer financial incentives through matching grants for business and property owners to upgrade building facades, parking lots, signage and landscaping. Only new projects that have not yet begun will be considered.
Applications will be accepted throughout the year as long as funds remain, and all projects must be completed by May 30, 2015.
The 24-block Municipal Service District runs from Jackson Street to Long Street and from Horah Street to Cemetery Street. This district was established in the early 1980s to provide a mechanism for generating tax revenues for downtown area improvements.
The city started the Innes Street Improvement Grants Program in 1996 as a result of the recommendations of a study by the Urban Design Assistance Team, which recognized the Innes Street corridor as essential to the future of Salisbury. Improvement of the corridor also is part of the Salisbury Vision 2020 Comprehensive Plan.
Together, the two programs have generated more than $12 million in private improvements from $850,000 in public dollars invested since 1981.
Full guidelines and applications are online at www.salisburync.gov/CAC or contact City Planner Lynn Raker at 704-638-5235 or lrake@salisburync.gov. Submit applications to the Community Planning Services office at 217 S. Main St.