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MINUTES Housing Resources Committee August 14, 1969 The regular monthly meeting of the Housing Resources Committee was held at 10: 30 A-. M., Thursday, August 14, 1969, in Committe e Room 2, Second Floor, City Hall. Invitational notice, list of those invited, with attendance of members and guests indicated, and other related documents are attached to the file copy only of the s e minutes. Chairman Alexander opened the meeting by welcoming all members and guests. He then stated that Mr. Butler Henderson, member of the Business Participation and Finance Panel has been designated to serve on the Citiz ens Advisory Committe e of the H o using Authority and tha t h e is working with the residents of all the low -income neighborhoods; and that he is also representing the HRC in this capacity. The first it en'1. on the Ag e nda w a s the r e port s from the P a n e ls on th e ir 1969 proposals and plans. The Chairman calle d fir s t on Mr. Ed B e nson of the Constructi o n a nd D e s i gn P a nel. Mr. Benson stated that the Construction and Design Panel on November 1st will pr esent a 90-Da y Report on implementing recommenda tions of the Eric Hill and Associates Report in the Mode l Cities a rea. Som e o f the recomm e nda tions a r e a s f ollows: 1. Investigation of Code variances related to industrialized housing systems. 2. Recomm e nd Public R e l a tion s ac tivity. The C h airman t hen calle d o n M rs. Do r o t hy Gib s on, Chairman of the Social Aspects P a nel. M rs. G ib s on s t ated t h a t the J . P. Steve n s and Company are doing quite well on the plac e m e nt o f housing for t he remaining famil ies. She a l s o sta te d tha t she att ende d a Schoo l M eeting and found ou t that the res id ent s of Perry Home s do not want any more Public Housing units in this ar ea bec a us e the s chools are to o crowded . �Page Two She also commented that most of the residents of some of the worst slum areas in the City had rather stay and live in the terrible conditions of these neighborhoods than to move into Public Housing. Col. Malcolm Jones then added that on July 28th a small Housing Assistance Office was established on the grounds of the Mill property. On that pate, 48 families had not been relocated. To this date, 2 7 of those families have been relocated. Of the remaining 21 families, 6 have been approved for Public Housing or have ).ocated housing elsewhere. As of Friday, August 8, only 15 families had not made plans for relocating. The Chairman then called on Mr. Robert Watkins, Executive Director of the Greater Atlanta Housing Development Corporation, and asked him if his Corporation had found a way to buy and move these houses. Mr. Watkins stated that he is working with the Atlanta Junior Chamber of Commerce trying to find a suitable site for these houses to be moved. The Chairman then asked Mr. Watkins if there was any specific date that these houses had to be moved before they would be destroyed? Mr. Watkins answered that the J. P. Stevens and Company would not tear down the houses as long as his Corporation was looking for a place to move these houses. He then stated that the Atlanta Junior Chamber of Commerce had hired some real estate agents to help them select a suitable site. Col. Jones then added that the J. P. Stevens and Company had set no specific date to get these buildings moved, but the timing would have to be reasonably soon. Col. Jones stated that the Atlanta J. C. 's have an eye on Rockdale as a possible site for relocating the J. P. Stevens and Company houses; that Mr. Bill Ogan has approached Mr. Dave Rosen, who was awarded contract for development of the Rockdale Urban Renewal project, in an effort to get some of the Rockdale site. Also that the J. C. 's are looking at the area just south of Rockdale on both sides of Grove Park Place as a possible site. Land Agent records show this area is owned by the City of Atlanta (Construction and Parks Department) and a parcel of about 8 acres which was deeded some time ago by the City to Open Door Inc. for the purpose of constructing a charitable home, which did not materialize. The Chairman then called on Mr. Richard Harvey, Chairman of the Public Relations Panel, to make a report of his Panel. �l __.,.__ -' - .. . Page Three Mr. Harvey stated that letters had been sent to the Mayor Candidates to meet with the full Committee on September 4th from 3:00-5:00 P . M . in Committee Room 2, Second Floor, City Hall. Mr. Harvey stated that all of the Candidates have accepted, except one. He further stated that the Candidates will hav e 10 minutes to present their views and a 10 minute question and answer period The Chairman then sugg e sted tha t all of the Chai rmen of the diffe rent HRC Panels should send their questions to the Housing Resources Committee Office at least a week before the mee_ting so that the questions co~ld be sent to the respective Candidates, in order to receive more comprehensive answers from the Candidates. The Cha irman the n calle d on Mr. Fr e ema n Hutton of the Lega l P a nel. Mr. Freeman Hutton stated that his Panel was still working closely with Mr. Pete Latimer, School Board Attorney, in attempting to get legislation inacted which would permi t the School Board to lease school facilitie s which might be built by d e velopers, in conne ction with Housing projects in orde r that the housing a nd s chool fa ciliti es would be a v a ila bl e for u se at the same time. He also stated that his Panel is still w or k ing on perfecting a propos a l originally made by Lega l P a nel m ember, Mr. Cha rles L . Weltner, that a n adequate Housin g s t a ff be e s tabli shed a s a separ a t e hous ing d e p a rtment to provide the n e ces sary statistical, res earch and profe s s ional services n eeded for Atla nta 's overall housing p r o gram. The Chairman th e n called on Dr . Benja min E . Mays, Chairman of t h e Housing Loca tions P a n e l, to pres e nt a Position P a per of his Panel to the enti re Commit t e e. Dr. M a y s pre s ent e d the main point s of the P o s ition Pap e r to the Com mittee members. A n a.rn endrru:m t was s ugge s t ed by M r . L es te r H. P er s ells, E x e c utive Directo r o f t he Atl ant a Hou sing Authority, t h a t i t em s d . a nd e , o f the Po s ition Paper o f t h e Hou s ing Loc a tions Panel should b e c om b ine d. A moti on was t h en m ade by Dr. Mays t hat the Po s iti on Pape r b e a dop t e d , with t h e recommenda tion t h at i tems d . and e. b e c om b ined , D r . Sidne y D avis seconded the motio n which wa s t hen u namin ou sly a d opte d . (Enc l. 1) The Cha i r m a n the n calle d on C o l. J ones to pr esent a propo se d R e sol ution on action o n the ND P Pr ogr am fo r 197 0 . C ol. Jones p assed out c opies o f the proposed R e solution (Encl. 2 ) which wa s unaminou s l y adopted. �Page Four . Mr. Bruce Gruber, a representative of Interfaith, asked if all the area in areas such as Plunkettown, etc~ were owned by the residents of these areas. The Chairman answered by stating that some of the land is owned by the residents who still live in these areas and that some of the land is owned by people who were residents in these areas but have moved out and have done nothing about their property. Dr. Mays stated some of the Emory Medical Students have set up a clinic in the Plunkettown area to try to help those people in every way that ·they can. He also stated that the people in Plunkettown are a little unreceptive, because they have been promised so much for so long and nothing has been done. Mr. Charles Stinson, Director of the Community Services, Atlanta Urban League, stated that 40% of the residents in Plunkettown do own their property; 20% own land, but do not live in the Plunkettown area; and that the majority of the residents want to leave the Plunkettown area. The Chairman then c a lle d on Mr. Jack Linville, Planning Department a nd Mr. Charle s Stinson, Director of the Community Se rvi ces, Atla nta U r b a n League , t o make a j oint b r i e fing of the Southwest A tlanta Zoni ng St udy pr epa r ed es s entially by G eo rgia T ech Planning Stude nt s under Profe ss or Rupnow , working with various citizens groups of the area, It was as su.med that the dominating influence g overning the study was the desire o f singl e-family home owne rs in the ar ea to limit a p a rtment developments and to keep out low-income housing. The plan as proposed made no specific provision for low-income housing d e velopm e nt, but provided for limited apa rtment developments along the northern periphery only and an extremely small amount of existing R-5 zoning , suita bl e f o r low - inc om e s ingle - f a mily hou s ing d e velopment. The plan further proposed tha t the two l argest apartm ent z one d tracts in this a r ea be rezoned for single-family (much of those areas under consid eration is not suitable for single-family development). Although the Housing Resources Committee had or iginally offered its services and assis t ance in the d evel opment of this project, this Committee was not called upon to participate in this project. The Chairman then discussed in some d etail Op eration Breakthrough expl aining the principal elements involved and incentives _b e ing offered by HUD to Cities which may be selected for Prototype housing sites and the general advantages of such selection. A staff paper prepared in the HRC Office pertaining the significant features involved was dist r ibuted to members of the Committee. (Encl. 3 ) �Page Five After considerable discussion, motion was made by Mr . Bob Watkins, seconded and unaminously adopted recommending that the City make application for a Prototype housing site and enter wholeheartedly into Operation Breakthrough. The meeting was adjourned at 12: 00 P. M. Respectfully submitted, 7-?~::_ { 0 ,,:· f ~t'-£.-. ....!,) _,,,,.-, Malcolm D. Jo es Housing Coordinator C , me Encls: 1. Position Paper - Housing Locations Panel 2. Resolution - NDP Program for 1970 3. HRC Staff Paper on Operation Breakthrough './ �