Minutes 08/26/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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,; () ,_J TUESDAY AUGUST 26, 1980 In the case of Falcon Ridge, there was no mention of subsidized apartments in all of the Public Hearings concerning this project since 1972 before the Planning Commission and the City Council. In fact, on July II, 1972, the first of three petitioners for the special use permit for this particular project, Earle Greene, stated that "this project would be developed under conventional financing, that no federal monies would be involved." Now, eight years later, after the Planning Commission and Council voted three times each for three different developers to approve the special use permit, the question of subsidized housing has arisen. This concerns me, because someone who may have opposed the project had he known all the facts as we do now has been given no chance to be heard. The City Staff and Council have carefully formulated the City's goals for housing each year to accomplish certain objectives: (1) to set goals realistically so that the goals can be accomplished each year in order for the City to qualify for HUD grants such as the three grants the City received--Pony Place Rehabilitation, upgrading the City Water System, and the Housing Rehabilitation Program; and (2) to provide safe and sanitary housing for our people without concentrating assisted housing in anyone neighborhood. I admit that it is certainly debatable whether or not the placement of 31 subsidized units in a 152-unit complex can be considered concentration; however, I am concerned about what will happen down the road. Mr. Poff claims that it is certainly not his "desire or intention to increase beyond the 31 units, the number of Section 8 units within the Falcon Ridge Project, now or in the future." But at the last meeting, Mr. Harvey Compton, a citizen of the neighborhood, questioned if Mr. Poff is in a position to make such a guarantee. As I see it, Mr. Poff cannot guarantee the success of the project, and if a new owner or HUD ends up with the project, it seems to me that there is certainly a chance for the number of subsidized units to increase. Moreover, Mr. Grubbs tells me that there are large complexes in the county that were built with only a small percentage of subsidized units, but the percentage has increased due to the fact that residents of the complexes have taken advantage of other subsidized housing programs. My point is simply that we are not talking about a 30- unit apartment building with 6 subsidized units -- we are discussing a large 152-unit complex with 31 subsidized units; and if something happens to increase the 31 units, then I feel there is a strong likelihood that the complex may unduly concentrate assisted housing in the area and adversely impact the neighborhood. The City has carefully pursued its goals for housing in the last few years. The programs we have pursued, in my opinion, have met the HUD guidelines, the goals of the community, and have not impacted neighborhoods. Since 1975 the City has achieved, or is in the process of instituting: