To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: CPPH_Info-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There are 4 messages in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. Displacement payments in Norfolk/Portsmouth VA? From: Grant 2. Fwd: Cincinnati Housing Authority wants to demolish anyway From: Grant 3. Plans to demolish more public housing in Cincinnati blasted From: Grant 4. Fwd: Cincinnati demolition From: Grant ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 07:18:05 -0800 (PST) From: Grant Subject: Displacement payments in Norfolk/Portsmouth VA? --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: Delay sought in Fairwood Homes debate By JANIE BRYANT AND MIKE KNEPLER The Virginian-Pilot December 18, 2002 PORTSMOUTH -- The attorney for Empowerment 2010 Inc. has asked federal housing officials for more time to resolve the issue of relocation assistance for displaced Fairwood Homes residents. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has said Norfolk and Portsmouth risk losing millions in empowerment zone funding if the residents are not compensated. A Dec. 6 warning letter from HUD requires financial assistance for residents who lived in two sections of the neighborhood ``referenced in the strategic plan'' of the empowerment zone application. The areas include less than half of about 800 units in Fairwood Homes and are located near the new Victory Crossing retail center on either side of I-264. Local officials were given 30 days to comply. Timothy A. Coyle, the attorney for Empowerment 2010, has requested a meeting with HUD officials to discuss the federal agency's warning letter. At stake is a program that has already helped more than 3,300 people through work force development programs. About 10 percent of them have been placed in jobs so far. And empowerment zone funds were used for the infrastructure to the new Victory Crossing shopping center adjacent to Fairwood Homes. Bush Construction closed the low-income complex in October after a long dispute with the city of Portsmouth over codes violations. The issue of relocation assistance for residents of private housing concerns local officials. The empowerment zone is made up of numerous indigent communities in both Norfolk and Portsmouth. Robert Layton, a Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority commissioner, worried that the issue could set a precedent for paying other tenants who are displaced by any private landlord. Coyle was asked Monday by NRHA commissioners to explain the relationship between empowerment zone money and relocation of tenants from a privately owned apartment complex. ``I think it would be a stretch to say that there's any relationship,'' Coyle told the commissioners. The money could be taken away from programs designed to help improve the lives of Norfolk public housing residents. HUD has approved $1.2 million in empowerment zone money for public housing tenants in the Norfolk HOPE VI revitalization area, said John Kownack, an NRHA official. The NRHA also is concerned that HUD could take back almost $2 million in funds already contracted for several other neighborhood revitalization projects, including Berkley shopping center, Church Street, central Brambleton and Park Place. Portsmouth city officials worked with nonprofits and churches to help Fairwood Homes residents with moving expenses, but they have balked at spending public money to help residents of private housing relocate. The city filed a motion last month asking that a federal judge make HUD a party in a lawsuit residents filed against the city, the owners and other agencies, including Empowerment 2010. The city's attorneys say HUD's ``presence is necessary to prevent Portsmouth and other governmental defendants from being subjected to multiple and contradictory obligations.'' According to court records, a magistrate judge wrote HUD in October asking it to attend a November settlement conference, saying its actions were ``effectively stymieing attempts to settle this case.'' HUD declined, and mediation did not go forward. Last Friday, a federal judge lifted a stay which would allow Portsmouth to go forward with its motion. The other parties have 11 days to respond. > --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: > Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 06:27:46 -0500 > From: Wayne Sherwood > Subject: Displacement payments in Norfolk/Portsmouth VA? > To: Wayne Sherwood > > Delay sought in Fairwood Homes debate > By JANIE BRYANT AND MIKE KNEPLER > The Virginian-Pilot > December 18, 2002 > > > PORTSMOUTH -- The attorney for Empowerment 2010 Inc. has > asked federal > housing officials for more time to resolve the issue of > relocation > assistance for displaced Fairwood Homes residents. > > The Department of Housing and Urban Development has said > Norfolk and > Portsmouth risk losing millions in empowerment zone > funding if the > residents are not compensated. > > A Dec. 6 warning letter from HUD requires financial > assistance for > residents who lived in two sections of the neighborhood > ``referenced in the > strategic plan'' of the empowerment zone application. The > areas include > less than half of about 800 units in Fairwood Homes and > are located near > the new Victory Crossing retail center on either side of > I-264. > > Local officials were given 30 days to comply. > > Timothy A. Coyle, the attorney for Empowerment 2010, has > requested a > meeting with HUD officials to discuss the federal > agency's warning letter. > > At stake is a program that has already helped more than > 3,300 people > through work force development programs. About 10 percent > of them have been > placed in jobs so far. And empowerment zone funds were > used for the > infrastructure to the new Victory Crossing shopping > center adjacent to > Fairwood Homes. > > Bush Construction closed the low-income complex in > October after a long > dispute with the city of Portsmouth over codes > violations. > > The issue of relocation assistance for residents of > private housing > concerns local officials. The empowerment zone is made up > of numerous > indigent communities in both Norfolk and Portsmouth. > > Robert Layton, a Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing > Authority commissioner, > worried that the issue could set a precedent for paying > other tenants who > are displaced by any private landlord. > > Coyle was asked Monday by NRHA commissioners to explain > the relationship > between empowerment zone money and relocation of tenants > from a privately > owned apartment complex. > > ``I think it would be a stretch to say that there's any > relationship,'' > Coyle told the commissioners. > > The money could be taken away from programs designed to > help improve the > lives of Norfolk public housing residents. > > HUD has approved $1.2 million in empowerment zone money > for public housing > tenants in the Norfolk HOPE VI revitalization area, said > John Kownack, an > NRHA official. > > The NRHA also is concerned that HUD could take back > almost $2 million in > funds already contracted for several other neighborhood > revitalization > projects, including Berkley shopping center, Church > Street, central > Brambleton and Park Place. > > Portsmouth city officials worked with nonprofits and > churches to help > Fairwood Homes residents with moving expenses, but they > have balked at > spending public money to help residents of private > housing relocate. > > The city filed a motion last month asking that a federal > judge make HUD a > party in a lawsuit residents filed against the city, the > owners and other > agencies, including Empowerment 2010. > > The city's attorneys say HUD's ``presence is necessary to > prevent > Portsmouth and other governmental defendants from being > subjected to > multiple and contradictory obligations.'' > > According to court records, a magistrate judge wrote HUD > in October asking > it to attend a November settlement conference, saying its > actions were > ``effectively stymieing attempts to settle this case.'' > > HUD declined, and mediation did not go forward. > > Last Friday, a federal judge lifted a stay which would > allow Portsmouth to > go forward with its motion. The other parties have 11 > days to respond. > > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 07:21:07 -0800 (PST) From: Grant Subject: Fwd: Cincinnati Housing Authority wants to demolish anyway --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: > Panel hears English Woods residents Cincinnati Post 12/18/2002 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Kevin Osborne Post staff reporter Federal, state and local officials are lining up to oppose possible demolition of the English Woods complex near Westwood, but a public housing agency says it will move ahead with the project. Cincinnati City Council's neighborhoods committee convened Tuesday afternoon at English Woods and listened to residents' concerns about the proposed demolition. A few dozen residents attended the meeting, and several spoke against the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority's plan to raze the low-income site within the next two years. Many residents said the 956-unit complex isn't as dilapidated as CMHA claims, and they want the agency to renovate the site and let tenants remain. Although CMHA conducted an inspection of English Woods and determined the 60-year-old complex was "non-viable" because of electrical, structural and plumbing problems, residents want city officials to pay for an independent inspection. "We feel the city needs to stand up and insist that someone else take a look at these buildings," said Marcia Battle, English Woods Civic Association vice president. About 462 families live at English Woods. Despite some letters to city officials claiming CMHA had stopped renting apartments there, the agency has rented 114 this year. City Council has no authority over CMHA, which is an independent agency. CMHA, though, often relies on the city for partial funding of some projects and for letters of support to win federal grants. City Council is expected to vote today on sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development asking that it reject any CMHA request for a demolition grant. Congressman Steve Chabot, whose district includes English Woods, sent a similar letter recently. State Rep. Steve Driehaus said, too, that he would press for changes in state law to make city appointees to housing agencies like CMHA more accountable. City Council appoints two of CMHA's five board members, but the pair have traditionally turned down requests to appear before council and answer questions. CMHA staff said renovating English Woods would cost $92.4 million -- about $130,000 per unit. That makes it cheaper to build a new facility. The funding that CMHA used to renovate some units at the Lincoln Court and Laurel Homes sites in the West End isn't available any longer, said Jen Schaefer, a CMHA spokeswoman. The federal HOPE VI program now funds only new construction. Under CMHA's plan, 700 low-income apartments at English Woods would be razed and replaced with 338 homes built by a private developer hired by the agency. About one-quarter of the homes would be allocated for low-income buyers. The hilltop site is considered prime development land because of its panoramic views of downtown Cincinnati. Getting federal approval for demolition could take up to two years. The English Woods Civic Association has 60 days to make an offer to buy the site. If CMHA rejects the offer, it must apply to HUD for a demolition grant, and approval could take about six months. It would take another year to relocate tenants, Schaefer said. Residents in nearby Westwood and Price Hill also oppose the demolition, saying it will send more people using federal low-income rental vouchers into their neighborhoods. The areas already have a disproportionate share of Section 8 tenants, they added, and that has led to a 30 percent increase in violent crime during the past year. Joan Rourke, CMHA's Section 8 housing director, said public housing is being unfairly blamed. "I think there is a tendency to lay at CMHA's doorstep problems that are citywide problems," she said. Despite the opposition, CMHA is confident that federal housing officials ultimately will approve demolition. "We just cannot maintain the massive infrastructure that's here," said Tim Charles, CMHA's maintenance director. "HUD is serious about seeing that not another dollar goes into non-viable sites." English Woods' problems don't warrant scrapping the facility, many residents said. > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 07:19:29 -0800 (PST) From: Grant Subject: Plans to demolish more public housing in Cincinnati blasted --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: > Plan to demolish more public housing By Ken Alltucker The Cincinnati Enquirer 12/18/2002 Residents of English Woods and their west-side neighbors agree on one thing: Neither group wants to see the 700-unit public housing complex demolished. The public housing residents fear that they will be left without a home if the housing authority brings in the bulldozers next year. West-siders believe more and more low-income residents will end up in their back yard, carrying the social ills of crime and blight with them. This delicate alliance was enough to persuade Cincinnati City Council members Tuesday to formally oppose the project and urge the federal government to withhold a grant needed for the demolition to proceed. What's more, U.S. Rep Steve Chabot and Ohio state Rep. Steve Driehaus have vowed to pressure the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority until it relents on a plan to demolish about 700 apartments and relocate tenants to other subsidized housing. "It would be a great service for the city to look at the accountability" of the housing authority, said Mr. Driehaus, who lives in Price Hill. "(CMHA executive director Donald) Troendle and the board of CMHA are not held accountable." Mr. Driehaus suggested that the state legislature should spearhead an effort to create more oversight of the independent housing authority board. Mr. Chabot, who lived in Westwood, recently penned a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development urging Secretary Mel Martinez to kill any request made by the housing authority for demolition funds. All this controversy stems from housing authority plans to remove 700 English Woods apartments it calls "nonviable" because of structural, plumbing and other problems. Housing authority executives were peppered with questions Tuesday from public housing tenants, residents of Price Hill and Westwood, and City Council's Neighborhood and Human Services Committee. Tim Charles, who oversees maintenance for the housing authority, said it became clear about three years ago that the housing complex would be too expensive to renovate. He said it would cost about $130,000 per apartment to make all necessary upgrades for the World War II-era complex, including lead paint and asbestos abatement. During a 2000 inspection commissioned by HUD, the English Woods complex "failed miserably," Mr. Charles said. At that time, the housing authority recommended that the units be deemed "nonviable," a designation needed before demolition is allowed. The housing authority originally wanted to sell the land to a private developer to build a mix of 338 upscale and affordable homes offering sweeping downtown views, a project similar to its City West home and apartment development in West End at the site of the razed Lincoln Court and Laurel Homes public housing complexes. But CMHA rejected those plans this year when it discovered the requirements for federal Hope VI grants are too stringent for the English Woods site. CMHA is still pushing ahead with its plans to demolish the apartments, but it hasn't said what it wants to do with the cleared land. Joan Rourke, who oversees community relations and the federal Section 8 voucher program for CMHA, said tenants won't be relocated before the end of the school year in June 2003 and demolition likely wouldn't start before 2004. The housing authority must offer to sell the apartments to tenants before it can apply for a federal demolition grant. If tenants are unwilling or financially unable to take ownership of the complex after two months, the housing authority may apply for a HUD demolition grant. Another requirement of the grant application is that the city of Cincinnati include a "letter of acknowledgement" stating it's aware of the housing authority's plans. City Council members, and their English Woods constituents, made it clear Tuesday that they want several more questions answered before the city writes such a letter. Marsha Battle, vice president of the English Woods Civic Association/Resident Community Council, said residents feel as though the plan has been forced upon them. "We have been shown too much disrespect," Ms. Battle said. "They've treated us as though we're ignorant just because we have financial issues." Ms. Rourke said the housing authority has held numerous meetings over the past two years updating residents about the plans. The more than 200 vacant apartments at English Woods are evidence that public housing tenants are choosing to live in other, more modern communities, she said. Following Tuesday's meeting, Ms. Rourke said the housing authority encountered similar resistance several years ago when it formulated plans to demolish more than 2,000 apartments in the West End. Yet when the West End project was formulated, there was little uproar from west side communities such as East Price Hill, West Price Hill or Westwood. Those three neighborhoods now have more than 2,600 subsidized housing units, a dramatic increase from a few years ago. And neighborhood leaders say that as a result, violent and serious crime has spiked. Those subsidized apartments include public housing, elderly housing and Section 8 rent vouchers administered both by CMHA and Hamilton County. Councilman John Cranley urged CMHA officials to guarantee that the housing authority won't approve any more subsidized units in the city's west-side neighborhoods. E-mail kalltucker@enquirer.com > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 4 Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 07:24:29 -0800 (PST) From: Grant Subject: Fwd: Cincinnati demolition --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: (Introduction by Wayne Sherwood) Across the nation, more and more public housing is becoming obsolete and non-viable, largely as a result of inadequate funding for capital improvements and/or replacement from the federal government. Yet each year, the President of the United States, at the recommendation of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), asks for far less money than is needed for these purposes. When that happens, Housing Authorities are left holding the bag. Some PHAs allow their entire stock to decline. Others triage their least viable developments. Eventually demolition is the only option. Many Housing Authorities see HOPE VI as the only possible way of replacing at least some of these units. I can see that is a reality, and whenever I criticize Housing Authorities for not replacing enough units, I also keep that reality in mind. In order for Housing Authorities to get out of this dead-end, the federal mentality has to change, and the Housing Authorities need to be provided, on a regular basis, enough capital money to modernize, upgrade, and when appropriate replace, their public housing stock on a routine on-going basis. That isn't happening now. I urge all of you to make your voice heard in support of more capital money for public housing. Wayne ============================================================ Friday, December 13, 2002 English Woods demolition on Authority drops money request By Ken Alltucker The Cincinnati Enquirer The Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority on Thursday dropped its request for $14.9 million in city money to redevelop English Woods but will still pursue a controversial plan to demolish the aging, 700-unit complex. Cincinnati's money was supposed to help pay for development of 338 new homes on the land offering sweeping downtown views. Now, the housing authority just wants to bulldoze the barracks-style buildings. The decision comes even though City Council this week approved a motion urging housing authority officials to halt the project until the city and housing authority can figure out a plan that benefits both tenants and city neighborhoods. CMHA Executive Director Donald Troendle said the housing is obsolete. "I don't hear anyone out there saying English Woods is a solid, quality place to live," Mr. Troendle said. "The housing remains nonviable, and we have to relocate the tenants." A plan to raze the complex and build new owner-occupied homes has been in the works for two years, but it's captured more attention in recent weeks after some tenants complained to the city. Residents of west-side neighborhoods protested that too much low-income housing is being dumped in their backyards, and they worry that displaced English Woods residents will use federal rent vouchers to move there. Some City Council members concede that there's little they can do. "We have no legal authority ... to stop him," David Crowley, a first-term councilman, said. "This was just an effort to put a moral argument into this." Mr. Troendle said market forces are partly to blame for the demise of English Woods. Only 460 of 700 apartments are occupied. English Woods' heating and air-conditioning systems are failing. It would cost more than $92 million to renovate. The housing authority plans to halt new rentals there in about two months and relocate all families within one year. It also must apply for a demolition grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. In all, Mr. Troendle doesn't expect the bulldozers to move in before late 2003. About the only key document required from the city is a "letter of acknowledgement" as part of the HUD demolition grant application. The housing authority must keep Mr. Luken informed about its plans but doesn't need his approval, according to the grant application. Displaced residents will have the option of moving to another 118 units that will remain at English Woods or other public housing complexes, such as a 500-unit renovated complex in nearby Millvale. Others will get Section 8 vouchers to rent from private landlords. Westwood and Price Hill residents fear a repeat of the demolition of more than 2,000 apartments at Lincoln Court and Laurel Homes projects in West End. West-side leaders say too many Section 8 families are in their neighborhoods, but the housing authority said fewer than 50 families moved to Westwood or Price Hill from Lincoln or Laurel. E-mail kalltucker@enquirer.com __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/