Thursday's Townhall Tussle over Low Income Housing in Southland

Thursday’s town hall meeting regarding the proposed low income housing development named “Outlook on Valleyview”  at 2900 Valleyview in Southland made for a huge turnout. The crowd was mostly comprised of citizens who are against the building of the apartments, with an overall age demographic of 50-years-old and up. Issues that arose from the last city council meeting were addressed and the public was allowed to ask questions and make comments.

Councilman Rodney Fleming, whose Single Member District (SMD) governs the proposed location, announced that LDG Development has tabled the idea of seeking a waiver from the city for $14,500 in permit fees. Pre-meeting, a petition was being passed around in opposition of this, making it obsolete at that point.

City staff members from the community development department, zoning, water, and the police department each gave a brief report as to the impact that would be made in that area of town if the project does make it off the runway.

“If you were to conduct a web search on the impact of affordable housing on property values in surrounding neighborhoods”, said Bob Salas, San Angelo Community Development Director, “you are going to run across a ton of national research from institutions such as Harvard and MIT, showing that affordable housing if well designed and well managed does not have an impact on property value.” Salas went on to include property value comparisons from other areas in town that are close to affordable housing projects, basically concluding that those developments have no effect on property values of surrounding homes.

Salas’ findings were met with laughter and mumbled comment amongst the crowd. “That’s a joke!” one man quipped.

Officer Cade Solsbery, Public Information Officer for the San Angelo Police Department, gave his findings on crime impact in areas similar to the proposed building site. “Of the affordable housing complexes we do have, such as Bent Tree, Desert Shadows, Nueva Vista, and River Point, on a whole we do respond to calls at those complexes more than others. Our calls for service are generally higher there.” His statement was met with murmurs of “I told you so’s” from the crowded chambers. Solsbury went on to say that it all boils down to property management as to the crime rate in those apartment complexes. “If the property is managed better, generally calls for service are lower.” He said.

Solsbery also talked about a program where the police department encourages apartment complexes to become a part of called "Crime-Free Housing." The program adds an addendum to the tenants’ lease that states if they are to commit a crime tfor which they are proven guilty, the tenant can be evicted. He also added that a crime report from any area of town can be obtained at www.crimereports.com.

Patrick Howard, Director of Planning and Development Services for the city took the podium next. He explained that the proposed property has been zoned for multi-family housing since 1983. “There are four other properties that are zoned similarly in the area, not including the subject property.” Howard said. Those properties would be Myrtlewood Estates, Rain Tree Apartments, Southland Arms, and a vacant lot at 5014 Valleyview.

In summary, Howard explained, the proposed property has been zoned for something like an apartment complex for the last 32 years. In order to rezone it, a request must be made by the landowner to the planning commission. From there the planning commission offers a letter of recommendation for a change in zoning, and then it goes to the city council for final approval.

Shane Kelton, Director of Operations for the city, conducted a traffic evaluation in the areas that would be used in conjunction with the development. “There should not be any issues there as far as increased traffic. I don’t believe we will see any congestion or any other issues stemming from that.” He stated.

Russell Pale, Assistant Director of Water Utilities, took his turn at the podium to discuss the issue of water pressure and sewage lines. “Part of our standard protocol is to get a set of plans from the developer. They have to provide their anticipated demands as far as water and sewer go. If any additional infrastructure is needed to accommodate for the unit, the developer is required to make those adjustments at that time.” Pale explained.

LDG representive Justin Hartz was on hand to further explain the developer’s intentions for the proposal site, and to answer any questions the public may have. “Our proposal project for Outlook at Valleyview is a project that we have been looking at for about the past six months, in the pre-designed phases, and financing.” Hartz said.He then went on to present pictures of what the completed project would look like.

These graphics showed modern looking facades adorned with stone inside a gated community with plush green grass, and a luxurious looking pool. LDG proposal is to build a quality 80-unit apartment complex with 1-3 bedroom dwellings ranging from 850-1185 square feet. Estimated monthly rent would be in the range of $440-$740 per month depending on size. This is a $9.9 million project. If awarded, housing credits would amount roughly to $7.2 million , leaving LDG with 15 percent tdown payment the project.

Following his presentation was a slew of public comments and questions, all in opposition of the project and backed by crowd support. At one point an older gentleman was almost removed from the chambers for using abusive language.

But there was one who dared to rise in support.

Craig Meyers stepped up to the mic. “I have been working for about 10 years to draw neighborhoods together, and I’ve heard a lot of things here that are based upon very deeply held convictions, but not real data. One is I have heard a lot of mischaracterization, or stereotype remarks about poor people.” Meyers said. “It’s like saying wealthy people are represented by folks that prior to the last recession, ran us into the ground because they have money and work for banks.”

Meyers raised his voice to drown out mumbles from the crowd, and addressed Councilwoman Charlotte Farmer's main reason for opposition to the project: Oversaturation of the city's apartments market. “An awful lot of folks who are in low income working positions are not in an oversaturated market. I served on a committee of the city manager, looking at housing issues in San Angelo prior to the oil boom because it was going to raise a lot of issues. Developers, realtors, and all kinds of folks worked very hard to figure out the best ways to serve the people that were coming in.” he explained. “One of the things that was not dealt with was that people with existing low income wages do not get a wage increase. There have been a bunch of folks who have been evicted, who work very hard, paid their rent, and have reared their children. There’s not an over saturation of low and moderate income housing.” Meyers said.

“I have seen a lot of people act out of fear that’s not based upon hard data. In Southland itself, not so many years ago there was the same kind of meetings, the same kind of conversations, because they were talking about putting group houses for the mentally challenged in their areas. All kinds of dire predictions were made by those opposed, and I would bet you now that not even one out of ten people here know where those houses are today, and they are there.”

As of now the future of the Outlook on Valleyview is uncertain. The lack of community support however does not fare well for LDG’s application for housing tax credits with the State of Texas.

Below, the video of the entire meeting: