INC NEWS - Housing for New Hope and Roxboro Road

[TheOcean1 at aol.com]

Forwarded by  request.

Bill Anderson 
for:  
       
Terry Allebaugh, Executive Director
Housing for New Hope
18 Colony  Road, Suite 250
Durham, NC 27705
919-489-6282
_Terry at housingfornewhope.org_ (mailto:Terry at housingfornewhope.org) 
 
 
I am writing an open letter to the City Manager and City Council to  request 
that they reaffirm the decision to award Housing for New Hope surplus  
property located on Roxboro and Elliott Streets. 
Housing for New Hope was awarded the property after properly following  steps 
required by the City’s “Policy and Procedures for Disposing of Surplus  
Real-Estate to Nonprofit Organizations for Affordable Housing”, approved by City  
Council earlier this year.  This  policy affirms that certain surplus 
properties will be awarded to organizations  that have a demonstrated track record of 
developing affordable housing, and are  accordance with the stated goals of 
the 10-year Results Plan to End Homelessness  in Durham. 
Under the agreement, Housing for New Hope will construct a building with  ten 
efficiency units, now called Williams Square Apartments, for formerly  
homeless citizens with disabling conditions. All conditions required by the City  
for the conveyance of the deed had been met prior to the Manager’s  
re-examination of the project.  
Though there have been objections to the awarding of this property from  
members of the Cleveland-Holloway Neighborhood Association and people from other  
neighborhoods as well, I don’t believe the case has been made to justify  
rescinding a commitment to help ten homeless citizens find a place to live, and  
breaking a contract with Housing for New Hope. 
The principal arguments, and my responses, follow.  
The City erred when it failed to inform the community about its decision  to 
make surplus properties available to non-profit organizations for affordable  
housing. 
·        In hindsight, it is fairly  evident that the citizens who had 
inquired about the property prior to it being  designated by the Manager and the 
Council for non-profit marketing, should have  been notified.  However, though  
notification might have been desired, it is not detailed as a procedure in the  
policy.  What is detailed quite  clearly however in Council minutes, is that 
the Council approved setting aside  the Roxboro/Elliot parcels for nonprofit 
bidding (01/16/07) and the Council  approved Housing for New Hope’s application 
(06/04/07). The City is poised to  create a bigger error by rescinding what 
has been approved according to a  written, approved policy and procedures in of 
favor what it now deems should  have been stated in the policy. The supposed 
rights of a few people who  expressed interest in buying the property to 
receive notification that it was  not available are being held above the rights of 
10 formerly homeless people  with disabling conditions to have access to 
housing they can afford. 
·        Further, I think a strong  argument can be made that should the City 
rescind an agreement made following  approved policy and procedures, it would 
demonstrate discrimination against  people with disabilities, a class of 
people who are protected by fair housing  laws.  
There is an over-concentration of social service  projects, and this violates 
the City’s Policy.
·        Williams Square Apartments are  not a social service program. They 
are permanent rental housing affordable to  persons with monthly incomes as low 
as $624. Tenants will sign leases and have  rights and responsibilities due 
leaseholders.  Each tenant will have a demonstrated  capacity to live 
independently, and will receive services as needed through  agents of the Durham 
Center. 
·        As verified by the City  Manager at a recent work session of the 
City Council, Williams Square Apartments  are in compliance with the City’s 
Housing Location Policy, which protects  areas against overcrowding of too much 
subsidized housing.  
The City erred when it conducted a “give-away” program  with a valuable 
piece of land. 
·        It was quoted in numerous  e-mails sent out to many neighborhood 
internet listserves that the City was  giving away a piece of property worth 
$500,000 for $1. Unnamed developers were  cited as the source of this information. 
 It is highly unlikely that these parcels are worth anywhere near that  
amount on the open market. It is highly likely however that this misinformation  
has helped fuel community opposition and is influencing Council’s current  
deliberations. 
·        The Council adopted the  surplus property policy specifically to 
help with the development of affordable  housing, both homeownership and rental, 
and to help implement the strategies of  the Council approved 10 Year Plan to 
End Homelessness and the Consolidated Plan.  These decisions were supported 
and promoted by the Manager and Council, and now  due to some dissenting opinion 
given the particular kind of people that would  occupy these 10 units, the 
City appears to be willing to set aside numerous  plans, policies, and 
procedures. 
I encourage the Manager and Council members to take a deep breath, review  
the documents, reconsider recent and well-taken decisions on behalf of Durham’s  
homeless, and then reaffirm the decision to award this property to Housing 
for  New Hope. Then, we  can get back to  the business of creating homes for ten 
currently homeless people, and working  with the neighborhood to create 
buildings and community that we can all look  upon with pride. 
Terry Allebaugh, Executive Director 
Housing for New  Hope        








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