.MTk1NA.MTk1NA

MINUTES Reorganizational Meeting Housing Resources Committee May 8, 1969 The Reorganizational Meeting o~ the Housing Resources Committee was held at 10:00 A.M., Thursday, May 8, 1969, in Committee Room 2, Second Floor, City Hall. Members of the Low-Income Housing Coordinating Group was also invited. Invitational notices, l ist of those invited, with attendance of members and guests indicated, and other related documents are attached to the file copy only of these minutes. Chairman Alexander opened the meeting by greeting the new members and thanking all the members for attending t h e meeting. The Chairman then introduced Mayor Allen. Mayor Allen opened his r e mark s b y congratulating the Committee on its many accomplishments in eliminating slums in Atlanta and providing better housing conditions. He praised recent accomplishments in Public Housing and stated that the City of Atlanta requires more Public Housing to meet the needs of its lowest income people. Mayor Allen stated that more a nd more o f the City's slums are b e ing clea r ed away, but there are still too many slum pockets left ove r the Ci ty, a nd that the standards ·o f the Housing Code are be i ng constantly increased. He said that he would like to see for every new housing development, a slum pocket in the City b e cleared a way. He stated that the Federal Government is helping with the pr ob l em of hous ing, beca use the City does not h a ve enough revenue t o support or f ina nce the se projects. Ma yor Allen particula r ly pra i sed the Housi ng Authori ty for i ts a s s ist a nce , coopera t i on and abi lity t o cope wi t h the low-income hous i ng situa t i on in Atla nt a . Ma yor Alle n a lso stated that so far this year the Building Permits (pr i "Qlri ly f or I ndus tr ia l a nd Commeric a l c ons truct i o n ) ha ve inc r e a sed about 50% above l as t yea r, wh ich was a record year . Ma yor Alle n t hen we nt on t o expl a in t he l e t t er he wr ot e to Chair man Alexander on April 3 , 1969, giving new dir ection to the Ho using Resources Commit tee. Mayo r Allen s t ated that severa l chang es h ave occ urred in leg i slation , whic h are the Model Ci ties Ac t o f 1 9 66 , the Fair Housing Act of 1966 and the Housing Act of 1968 that have c hanged the housi ng goa ls and needs o f t he Ci ty of Atlant a. He then stated t h a t since t he Housing Besources Committee has asked his offic e f o r new ins t ruc t ions , he suggested that the following areas be investigated and action initiated during 196 9: �Page 2 1. The Planni ng Department has b een i nstructed by the Planning and Devel opment Committee o f the Boar d o f Ald e rmen t o c onduct a total review ~nd evaluation of our housing ef~ o rts to date , along with a redefinition o f total hous ing needs by location, type, size and rentals and sa les price ranges . Mayor hllen said th a t the HRC should be involved in this matter and assist the Pla nn i ng Department in the devel opment of the scope of this study and in obtai ning political acceptability and support . At present a j o int Atlanta-Fult o n County Housing study is being p r oposed. 2. Eri c Hi ll and bs sociates has just c ompleted i ts r eport for the Model Ne i ghbo r hood Pr og ram . This report contains muc h f ood f or thought in the area o f lowering the costs of low-income housing. HRC sh o uld ta k e the i nitiative and expl o r e ways and means t o implement those pertinent recommendati ons deeoed feasible on a city-wide bas i s . 3. Conv e n tional urban r enewal pr o jects, the Neighb o rh ood Development Pr o gram a nd Model Cities Pr ogram can provide much needed land f o r housing de v elopme nt and impr o v ement purposes. In this r ega rd the HRC can a ss u me a v e ry ir.ipo rtan t r ole. 4. Ou ts id e o f the boundaries o f conventiona l urban renewal projects, the Ne ighborhood Dev elopment Pr o gram and Model Cities Pr og ram, the pr oc urer.ient and d evelopment o f sites fo r housing can best be expected to c ome along by themse l ves because o f the momentum g enerat ed in the in i tial two years. If there is a need for prodding here, it is in the direction of placing greater emphasis in outlying are~s of the City on single-fami ly, p ubli c housing and higher density public h o using in close proximity to the central core of the C i ty. HR C can be most helpful in providing this type of direc tion to city de v elopment , and 5. I n general , the new housing units which have been developed were intended as replacement housing for slum properties . Yet, slums still exist. In the future , HRC should seek to de v ise and implement ways and means through which one slum structure would be deraolished �• Page 3 for each new low-cost housing unit created. Unless this is done i mmediately, the same slums will be with us indefi nitely. _Mayor Allen stated that low-income housing usually impr oves the neighborhood after it has bee n developed. He stated that he does not believe that large trac_ts of land are going to l;)e zoned this year (beca u se of impending po lit ical elections) in hesidential areas for low-income housing. Probably the land sur rounding already existing hou sing developments can be expanded and some new developments, perhaps in the outly ing area s. Mr ~ Alexander agreed with Mayor Allen on the elimination of slums in the At la nta area and emphasized the importance of the Mayor's rol e in the overall program . Mr . Alexander then commented on the Broad Functions set up for the Committee (copies distributed and with file copy only of these mnutes). He explained the functions of the Business P3rticipati o n and Finance P anel, Construction and Design Panel ; the newly organized Housing Locations, newly organ ized Housing Re study, Legal, newly o rganized r,~oderate and Upper Inc ome Kn Town Housing , Public Relati o ns 2nd Social Aspects Panels o f the Comm i ttee. At this point, Mr . Archer D. Smith , III , Chairman of the Legal Panel , asked Mayor .!Hlen if his new direction letter to the Chairman meant that the Housing Resources Committee should discontinue its previous efforts in promoting sites for low and medium income housing and assisting develop~r8 by supporting rezoning of certain proposed tracts considered appr opriate for this purpose. Mayor Allen responded that he did not intend to restrict activities of the HRC in any of its efforts in providing lowincome housing; that his letter to Mr. Alexander was intended to re-define and provide direction for new additional efforts by the Committee. Mr. Alexander then intr od uced Mr . M. B. Satterfield, retiring Executive Direct o r of the Housing Authority . He praised Mr. Satterfield for his excellent contribution to the housing situation in the City of Atlanta , and as a tok en of the Committee's appreciation for Mr . Sattefield 's cooperation , assistance and accomplishments in the Low-income Housing field, presented Mr . Satterfield with a copy of 11 A.tlant a Century". A.utographing was initiated by Mayor Allen. Mr. Erwin S tevens of the ~ocial Aspects P anel asked what the rent was for a single person who li ves in a Public Ho using unit. Mr . Satterfi eld expla ine d the minimum is $25. 00 for a single �• Page 4 person, with utilities no t mor e than $ 10 .00 a dd itio nal ; that in genera l the rent char g ed in Public Housing units is 20- 21% o f net fa mily inc ome . The Chairman then intr o duced Mr . Cary Hooks , Direct o r o f - FHA , t o comment o n funding and pr ogress t o date i n ~tlanta on · FHl\ Low - inc ome hous ing proj~cts . Nr . Hook s s tated that under Sectio n 221 d ( 3 ) in the Motropolitan Atlanta area there are lB pr o jects Completed with 1 , 944 units , Under Cons truction - 15 projects with 1 , 758 units and und e r Fi n al Committment , 5 projects with 620 units a nd 6 projects with 66 units under Conditiona l Committments . Under Sectio n 236 there are 7 pr o jects with 033 units . This makes a t o tal o f 51 pr o jec ts with 5 , 329 units . Mr . Ho oks also s ta ted that the Roc k dale U . R . Project has 325 u nits Under Constructio n with an additional 825 u nits In Planning plus an additional 260 units . There are 300 of the s e uni ts under the BMIR (Bel ow Marke t Interest Rat e ). Mr . Ho o k s stated that anyone with a pr o ject c an talk t o him about it. I'li:r . Ho ok s commented on the funding of some of the low-income housing programs . He st a ted that there are no funds a v ailable under Section 23 6 wh ich is t aking the place of 221 d (3 ) . Re nt Supp l e ment is in same situation and f unding of $100 , 000 , 000 has been requested . Some Section 236 2 nd Rc.: nt· Ou pplomcnt .fm:d:; ha v e bee n reallocated . Section 2 35 6) and 221 ( h) progr am funds ar e still availa b le . He sta ted tha t the 106 p r ogram provides f or seed money to lend to nonprofit o rga nizat ions with up t o 80% loan , but admit t e d that none o f thes e funds h ave bee n used in Atlant a a nd tha t the p r ogram i s little k nown . Under Sec t ion 237 n person wh o has had bad credit can have a loan approved f or him, if he ha s gone throu gh the l o c al counseling s e rvice and i s s o recommended by the counselors. The size of the loan has t o bG determined . The person has t o go through the counseling service a nd there is not cost t'o""the person hims elf . Mr . Alexander asked Mr . Hooks what is the lowest c ost per month for a 1-2-3 bedroom uni t? Mr . 3 ook s a n swered tha t under Gection 236 program it is $103 f or a 3-bedroom unit with a $52.00 ront subsidy , which makes t he to t al payment $56 . 00; that Re nt Supplement income limits are the same as for Pub lic Housing . Mr . Hooks then stated that there are 300- Rent Supplement uni t s in the Me t ropolit a n area . Chairman Alexander ass i gne d three proposals by Eric Hi ll and Associates for updating and expanding housing needs studies to the i:-Iruci11 "" J. ~tt~'~} :?s:~.cl f er f,1rth ' r __, tud y :2nd t l r,---pc,rt b ~:s L t o th e :-_x0c ut i'. _ Grcup. �Page 5 He also assigned the National Coalitio n Draft Position paper on housing to the Business Participation and Finance Panel f or s t udy and report of recommenda:t;ion to the E~rncutive Group . Chairman Alexander then called on Malcolm D . Jones, Housing Coordinator , to report on the Membership Li st of the HRC and t h e Summary - Status of Accelerated Lo w- Inc ome Housing Progra m, January 15 , 1969 . Col . Jones referred to the newly organized Membership List and stated that if any addresses or t e lephone numbers were wr o ng on the Membership List to please get in touch with the Ho using Resources Committee office f or any change . (Copies distributed and attached to file copy of Minutes) Col . Joneo then commented on the Summary of Janu ary 15, 1969 , ( copies distribut ed) stating that as of January 15 , 1969 , 3 , 365 units have b een Completed , 6 , 559 units are Under Construction , and 8 , 335 units are In Planning with a total In S ight of 18 , 259 , and Being Consider ed ( in all catego ries ) is an additional 7 , 630 units . In addition , 1 , 019 units have been leased for Public Housing; 800 of these are now occupied or available for occupancy . Also that 15 , 1 6 5 units have been reported by the Housing Code Division as r epaired or rehabilitated; and explained that while these do not add additional units to the inventory, that it does incr ease the number of standard units . available . He also pointed out the trend during 1963 - 68 of total h ousing permits in the City and showed that during the existance of the HRC, 2 , 469 units have been demolished under the Housing Code. He also referred to the Public Housing Summary , which was at tached. Chairman Alexander the n announced that the Model Cities Executive Board wa s havi ng a prese nt a tion by Er ic Hi l l and Associates on May 1 4 , 1969 , at 10 : 30 A .M. in Committee Room 2, and a ll Members of the I--IB.C are invited to attend. Er ic Hill and Associates will present a Report to the Atlanta Model Ci ties Agency - uiLow er ing the Cost of Housing - Resea rch on S t ra t egy a nd P olicy". ( Subseque nt to the meeting , t he Construct ion a nd Deoign Panel wa s requested to attend the meeting and to make report and recommendation to t he Executive Group for imp lementing on a city-wide basis appropriate portions of t he Eric Hil l and Ass ocia tes proposals.) Mr. Alexander t hen int roduced Mr . Mr . Bob Cleiyton , Ci tizens and Sout hern showed a fi l m on the Savannah Project , last year by the Citizens and Southern Donald J . Roe and Na tional Ba n h , \V ho a clean-up campaign National Ba nk . The Film wa s very impressive and well received . It protrayed the clean i ng up of the slums in t he Savannah area, �Page 6 where st udents from White and Negro colleges worked t ogether with the residents of the s l ums of Savannah . The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 12 : 00 noo n . Respectfully submitted , 'ii), 2-.r......,.-. (L. _,/J ~~ _____..~"~ Malc olm D • .; . ~"'S--.c- Hous ing Cod~d inator me Encls : As stated (with file copy only) �