I attended the public hearing on June 11, and I have a comment on the proposed Development Plan

Reevesm

Description

Public Comments on Amendments to the Consolidated Plan and 07-08 Action Plan 30- Day period ending June 24, 2008 A Public Hearing was held on June 11, 2008 at 6:00pm. Staff welcomed attendees, introduced City of Arlington staff in attendance, and provided a summary of the proposed amendments with a power point presentation. Citizens in attendance were reminded to sign in and complete a comment card if they so desired. The following table provides a summary of citizen comments and responses during the hearing. Summary of Citizen Questions and Staff Responses: Citizen Issue Staff Response How many housing units are planned at High No more than 11 affordable units and no more than 74 total units. Oak? Why are you including the High Oak Expanding the boundaries will allow the City additional time to find a neighborhood in the NRSA? quality developer for the project. HOME funds will be removed from the project, stopping the clock on the use of the HOME federal funds for the housing development. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds will remain in the project. The expanded NRSA gives the City the flexibility to build quality single-family, owner-occupied housing with no more than eleven affordable housing units. Why not include Interlochen in the NRSA? The income composition of the Interlochen area is higher than HUD requirements for NRSA designation. Why not pay back the HUD funds? Funds are not available in the current budget to pay ...

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• Publié par: Obbe
• Nombre de lectures: 17
• Langue: English

Extrait

Public Comments on

Amendments to the Consolidated Plan and 07-08 Action Plan

30- Day period ending June 24, 2008

A Public Hearing was held on June 11, 2008 at 6:00pm.

Staff welcomed attendees, introduced City of Arlington

staff in attendance, and provided a summary of the proposed amendments with a power point presentation.

Citizens in attendance were reminded to sign in and complete a comment card if they so desired.

The following

table provides a summary of citizen comments and responses during the hearing.

Summary of Citizen Questions and Staff Responses:

Citizen Issue

Staff Response

How many housing units are planned at High

Oak?

No more than 11 affordable units and no more than 74 total units.

Why are you including the High Oak

neighborhood in the NRSA?

Expanding the boundaries will allow the City additional time to find a

quality developer for the project.

HOME funds will be removed from the

project, stopping the clock on the use of the HOME federal funds for the

housing development.

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds will remain in the

project.

The expanded NRSA gives the City the flexibility to build quality

single-family, owner-occupied housing with no more than eleven

affordable housing units.

Why not include Interlochen in the NRSA?

The income composition of the Interlochen area is higher than HUD

requirements for NRSA designation.

Why not pay back the HUD funds?

Funds are not available in the current budget to pay back the $2.7M of

federal funds invested in the High Oak project.

How is the City addressing the need for

social services?

The City supports social services through coordination with Arlington

Human Service Planners and through funding support of 20 local non-

profit organizations.

CDBG, HOME, and Emergency Shelter Grants are

awarded to local non-profit organizations that serve low and moderate

income individuals.

Will including the High Oak neighborhood in

the NRSA decrease property values?

Goals for the NRSA include improved housing and infrastructure,

increased homeownership, and economic opportunity.

Investments in

quality owner-occupied housing projects will not lower property values.

Housing rehabilitation for aging housing stock will improve neighborhoods

and property values.

Can someone check on the structure being

built on the vacant High Oak property?

Staff checked on the structure, which appeared to be forts built by youth.

The Police Department accompanied staff and confirmed that the structures

were not housing homeless individuals.

Can you put a park on the vacant property?

The option of building a park with CDBG funds was explored and found to

be ineligible at the High Oak location.

There are not enough low to

moderate income individuals in the radius surrounding the land to qualify a

park for CDBG funds.

Can you put a senior center or youth center

on the vacant property?

A senior center is potentially eligible for CDBG funds; however, the City’s

Consolidated Plan would need to be amended and further analysis done

before proceeding with this option.

The highest and best use of the land is

housing, according to the most recent independent appraisal.

Why are people from the High Oak area not

represented

on

the

NRSA

Steering

Committee?

The current NRSA Steering committee is made up of representatives of the

current NRSA.

Citizens from the expanded area would be added upon

approval of the expanded NRSA.

High Oak Concept Plan for Future housing

development does not reflect the community

desires for a high wall, closed off street, one-

story homes and larger lot sizes.

The concept plan was the result of numerous community meetings and is

not the final plan.

The community will continue to be involved as

information becomes available.

Is the City trying to increase low income

persons in the neighborhood?

The information about the low income composition of the community was

obtained from 2000 census data.

The purpose of a neighborhood

revitalization strategy is to reduce the low income composition of a

neighborhood by providing opportunities for jobs and housing.

Can you tear down the apartment complex at

Fielder and Sanford?

If federal funds are used for any demolition, federal guidelines for

relocation and subsequent use must be followed.

There are no plans to use

federal funds to demolish the apartment complex in question.

Need to restrict homebuyer assistance to

Arlington residents only.

Homebuyer assistance is available to all qualified persons who wish to

purchase a home in Arlington.

How do you ensure that low income

homeowners can maintain their property?

Pre- and post purchase counseling is required to ensure that homebuyers

are prepared to maintain a home.

Can you provide assurance that no more than

11 units will be affordable in the High Oak

area?

Yes.

Do staff providing responses live in

Arlington?

Of the seven staff in attendance, four live in Arlington and three live

outside Arlington.

What can we expect to happen after this

hearing?

The proposed amendment is scheduled on the July 1 City Council agenda.

The High Oak housing development is on hold and future plans include

outreach to potential developers.

The community will be informed

throughout the process.

How long can we expect the property to be

vacant?

This information is not available at the present time.

Was federal money involved in the Choice

Homes development south of Wesley?

No.

Are minutes of the meeting being kept and if

so, can you note that some of the

neighborhood did not receive notices of the

public hearing.

Yes.

Additional addresses have been added to the neighborhood

distribution list.

Written Questions/Comments

The following is a list of questions and comments that were submitted in writing during the Public Hearing.

Questions were answered during the Hearing and responses are summarized in the above table.

Citizen Written Comment

Won’t this lower the value of our homes to be thrown in the larger group?

See response above

Oppose the planned development.

The land should be used for a park and a senior/youth facility.

See response above

Why include High Oak Apartments in the new Area?

See responses above

What is being done about the apartments on the Southeast section formed by Fielder and Sanford?

Why not use some of the gas money to improve these areas?

I object to using High Oak Estates to “improve” the other areas.

What does including the “apartments” mean to the “apartments” and High Oak Estates?

We do NOT WANT NRSA to be expanded next to our neighborhood.

We have about 50 homes in the High Oak area that

are well kept.

We have spent a lot of money updating our homes and are all proud of our neighborhood.

This would greatly

decrease our property values and it is NOT fair to us to have the NRSA behind us.

We have been a taxpayer in Arlington

for 36 years, and will move from Arlington if this happens.

Why is High Oak Drive included in the NRSA?

What is Arlington trying to do?

Promote more poor people to move into

Arlington?

See response above

Comments submitted via email after Public Hearing

Citizen Issue

Staff Response

Received email on 6/11/08 and a mailed list of High Oak Neighborhood

Residents to update mailing list.

The High Oak Mailing list was updated to

include these residents.

Received the following email on 6/21/08:

I attended the public hearing

on June 11, and I have a comment on the proposed Development Plan.

My comment relates to the chart showing the addition of New

Area.

This chart shows that the new area designated, "1216.013", is

zoned Residential with the exception of one lot on the North side of

Wesley. My comment is; "In the overall Neighborhood development

plan, it would be most compatible to have the entire area North of

Wesley zoned residential; and let Wesley serve as the boundary between

residential and non-residential. I would like to have this lot re-zoned

residential."

Please record my comment and advise me on the actions

required to make this change.

Staff acknowledged receipt of citizen comment

via email and will provide detailed information

after researching the identified area.