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MINUTES OF THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR URBAN RENEWAL Atlanta Room Citiz e ns and Southern National Bank Tuesday, September 30, 1969 The full Committee quarterly meeting of the CACUR was called to order at 2:00 P. M. by the Vice-Chairman A. B. Padgett, w ho presided over t ~.1.e meeting during absence of Chairman Noah Langdale who had a conflicting engagement. Those attending the meeting from the Execqti ve Committee were: Messrs. Edga r Schukraft; W. L. Calloway; Charles Mathias; Bob Bivens; Jack Carrollton (representing Mr. E. A. Yates); Mrs. Doris Lockerman; and Mrs. Leonard Haas. Committee members in attendance were: Messrs . William Toms; Fred Burns; a nd C u rtis Driskell; for the Atlanta Housing Authority: 1:v1r. Lester Persells ; Mr . Howa rd Openshaw ; Mr. Robert Barnett (Proje c t Director - Vine City NDP area ); .\-i r. Curtis Parrish (Project Director - Edgewood NDP area); Mr. Thomas Es kew; Mr. Douglas Wendell; Mr. Wilson McClure (Project Director - West End}; for the Southwest Atlanta Association, Inc: Mr. James W. DuPuy; for EOA: Mr. W. L. Horshen; for the Pla nning Department of the City of Atlanta: Mr. Collie r B. Gladin; Mrs. Sally Pickett; and Mr. John Matthews. Others : Mr. A. L. Watson Sammye Coan School Director; Mr. Norman M. Rates - Spelma n College;. Rev. W. L. Houston - Project Area Committee,- Vine City; and Mr. Walter Dancy - Urban Corps Intern with the CACUR Ofnce . Invitational Notice, Agenda and other related Do cuments for the meeting are attached to the file copy of these minutes. Vice-Chairman Padgett opened the meeting by welcoming those present. He then stated that the first item on the Agenda would be put off until Chairman Langdale arrived. The second item on the Agenda was the presentation o f the Vine City NDP plan. Mr. Padgett then introduced Mr. Howard Openshaw, Director of Urban Redevelopment of the Atlanta Housing Authority. Mr. Openshaw then introduced Mr. Robert Barnett, Project Dir ector of Vine City, to present the NDP plan. Mr. Barnett first explained the georgraphical lo cation of Vine C ity. The boundaries being: Northside Drive on the East, Simpson Road on the Nor th, Griffin Street on the West and Hunter Street on the South. He also stated t hat there are approximately 154 acres, with 900 families and 3, 500 individuals locat ed in the Vine City area. Mr . Barnett stated that the fir st thing s that were done in Vine C ity was to form a local committeee known as the PAC or Proj e ct Area Committe to represent �Page Two the fnterests of the citizens of the Vine City Community. He stated that the PAC holds meeting at least once a week (usually every Monday night), and that a survey was made to collect facts on Vine City; such as population, family s i ze , amount of income, heads of household, etc. The survey showed that the average income for the Vine City areas is $161. 00 a month, and that 76% of the property in the area has ab~entee landlords and 24% is owner occupied. The survey also showed _that the residents of the Vine City area wanted more shopping, transportation and community facilities. Mr . Barnett further stated that the target area for the 1970 NDP plan has already been designated. The target area, which was shown by a map presentation, has 122 structures (162 families), with 92 of these structures as major deterior ation, 9 as a minor deterior ation and only 1 standard structure. By map presentation, Mr. Barnett showed th e lay out for the 1970 NDP plan, with a 24 acre p ark, commercial area , garden type a p artments , town houses and single family residences. Vice-Chairman Padgett thanked Mr . Barnett for his very informative presentation on the Neighborhood D eve lopm ent Program for Vine City in 1970. Mr. Op enshaw then introduced Mr. Curtis Parrish, Project Director of the Edgewood area. In turn, Mr. Parrish introduced Mr. Harry Adley and Mr. Albert Twiggs of Adley Associates to pre sent the Edgewood NDP plan for 1970. Mr. Adley and Mr. Twiggs pres e nte d a slid e presentation of the g ood and bad areas of the Edgewood project. Mr . Adley str esse d that the area of Edgewood should be rehabilitated, not torn down. Four sections of the Edg ewood area have tentatively been selected for activity to start in 1970. Sammye Coan School is a good example of the type of environment Edgewood is working for in its effort to develop a better Community. Mr. Adley agreed to provide the Executive Director with a summary sheet on the Edgewood project statistics. Mr. Padgett thanked Mr. Adley and Mr. Twiggs for a very fine presentation of Edgewood. Becaus e of the time element involved, a fifteen minute presentation was given on each NDP plan and a give minute question and answer period. There was much discus sion on th e subj ect and value of rehabilitation and the accusation that rehabilitation does not l ast, because the individuals do not keep up their homes or property. Vhie-Chairman Padgett the n stated that there was not enough time for a detailed discussion on the merits of reha bilitation and suggested that the subject of rehabilitation be put on the Agenda for the n ext meeting. �Page Three Mr. Padgett called on Mr. Openshaw to p resent the overall Neighborhood Development Program for 1970 (copy attached, E nc l. 1). Attention of CACUR members was particularly called to the enclosed copy of recent letter from the Regional Office of HUD stating that HUD funding t o the Region III area is only $24,000, 000; and that this is only 45. 9% of the am unt allocated for the first year's activity for the six NDP programs now under way in Region III. In response to question from the Executiv e Director, CACUR, as to proposed activity in the portion of the Bedford-Pin e NDP area south of Forrest Avenue. {This is where the bulk of the most dilapic.ated housing is located. ) Mr. Openshaw stated that no activity is planned i n that area for 1969- 70 except acquisition of a few scattered dilapidated structur e s, requested by the Mayor. Mr. P a dgett then called on Mr. Opensha w to respond to comments on the West End Urban Renewal Project .previously s u bmitted by the Executive Committee .. Mr. Openshaw read a letter addressed t o the Executive Director, explaining the delays in many of the Urban Renewal proje cts, including West End (Encl. 2). After considerable_discussion pertaining to certa in aspects of the West End project, the meeting was adjourned at 3:30 P~ M. Financial state prepared by the Executiv e Director, was not presented during the meeting, but was subsequently turned o ver to the Vice-Chairman. In view of impe nding City elections , Item 1 on the Age nda , "Explana tion of Proposed Reorganization of CACUR", was om i ted until a later date. Resp e c tfully submitted, ~ / /;Jd-.-:d~ '"-,. _,~ ' ~ Malc olm D. J n e s Executive Dfrector me E n.els : 1. · N e ighborhood D e v e lopme nt Program f or 1970 2 . Letter dated September 30, 1969 �