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MINUTES H0USillG RESOURCES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND LOA-INCOME H0USmG C00RDL~ATI0N GROUP MEETING Februnry l, 1968 The regular monthly meeting of the Housing Resources Committee Executive Group and the key individuals involved in low-income housing, was held at 10:00 a.m. this date, in Committee Room 2, Second Floor, City Hall. Fifteen (1.5) members of the H)Using Resources Executive Group; Nine (9) key individuals concerned with Low-income Housing; five (5) other invited guests; and members of the Press attended the meeting . Lists of those invited, with attendance indicated, is attached to the file copy of these minutes. 1 Chairman Alexander presided. Mr. Alexander opened the meeting OIJ stating that this was the second meeting of the Low-income Housing Coordination Group. He expressed regret that the School Department was not included in the first meeting on January 2, 1968 • • Each guest introduced himself by giving his name and organization he represented. Mr • .Alexander asked Mr . Jones to expl ain the Summary of the Low-i ncome Housing Repor t , dated J anuary 15, 1968 , copies of whi ch were distri buted t o all in at tendance . Mr. Jones expl ained t he Summary. He stat ed that thi s report showed the s t atus of a 2-year goal of a 5- year progr am that Mayor Allen' s office had established. He pointed out that t his was the firs t time this report showed a comparison with the previous report. He s t ated t hat the "In Planning" totals were actual pr oj ects that were being worked on . He said that applications may not be made to HUD for commitments on some of these projects . He said that in addition, 4,481 units in various project s ar e in discussion s t age . He pointed out that unfortunately 8,266 unit s which had been proposed did not ma t erialize and speci f ically mentioned the Sewell Road proj ect as an exampl e . He s t ated t hat 10,157 units have been rehabilitat ed through the Hous i ng Code Division, plus 247 unit s by t he Housing Authorit y in the 1vest End u. R. Proj ect and 30 units voluntarily by privat e enter prise . He point ed out that this report deals only wit h Low-inc0me Housing in Atlanta. The second page of t his Swnmary is a compilati0n of Public Housing in Atlant a . The thir d page consists of notes that have a direct bearing on t he Low-income Housing Program. He also mentioned that during the period of existence of this Commit tee {Nov.15 1 66 to present) 1,312 new low-income units were construct ed; that according to reports from the Building Department for end of 1967 that under the Housing Code Enforcement Progrrun 1,272 units were demolished; that it can be assumed that most of the units demolished were low-income housing. �I' 2 Mr. Alexander asked that copies of the Summary report be distributed to those invited but who did not come and stated that developers should be included in next meeting~ Mr. Alexander said there wero two primary problems to discuss: (1) acquisition of land that is approved by all parties concerned that could be zoned and community facilities be provided and; (2) the use and ability to use lowincome housing that could be built that does not me et the Building Codes but which would be every bit as good as tho Housing Code calls for. Mr. Alexander asked Dr. Letson about the possibility of having developers build schools f or l ease to the School Department. Mr. Earl Landers said he had nothing definit e to report, but Tom Choyce had advis ed him that he had been in contact with Pete Lattimer, and had maile d a lotter to Mr. Lant~ers Dn January 31, 1968; that apparently the City Attorney is working on tho possibility of having schools built f or lease to the School Department, Mr. Archer Smith said tha t " governmental" bodies cannot commit thems elves to l ong-term l easing beyond their term of office (which is usually one year). He stated that City schools are considered " governmental"; that contractors could dedi cate land to City; that a l ease that would be terminable would be impossible to get . Ho said the onl y way to acquire schools by leasing would be by l egislation to change the code section of schools being considered "governmental". Dr, Lets on said that schools built by private developers and l eased to the School Board would probably be more expensive than construction by the City through General Obligation B~nds, However, failure 10 years ago to provide adequate s chool facilities for today's population means the Board must now build schools on more expensive property at hiGher interest and construction costs. He placect emphasis on the nee d for Kindergartens to be built in or near housing developments. Dr. Letson said that pro cedures for getting capital outlay funds arc tied to the calm, quie t pas t many years ago and are not adequate for today 's needs. Mr. Alexander asked where do these funds come from that would be used to pay rental on leased schools? Dr. Lotson said the funds would have to become an annual charge in terms of the budget; that funds arc limited to property tax; that wc need some adcitional source of revenue. Dr. Harrison asked what de~rce of independence did schools have on expenditures? Dr. Letson said no independence in bonds. �3 Dr. Harris on asked what the gov0rnin~ r esponsibility was ? Dr . Letson sai d the same law a s Board of Aldermen. Mr. Archer Smith gave three ways to solve the pr oblem of l easing s chools: (a) go t o tho courts and l ook into f ormer cas es of this nature and get the courts t o s ee that things have changed and that s chool ::; mus t l eas e on a l ong t erm (20-30 y ear) bas is; (b) that fi nancing i s oven more s trenuous; we should arrange for ext ending the l ease provis i on beyond the term of the Council; (c) easi est way t o solve the pr oblem i s pr obably t o tell the private c.e velopcr we will zone the lanG if you will dedi cat e tho land to the City. Mr . Alexander sai d we al so want t o kn:,w whe t her a devel oper can be authoriz ed t o a ctually build a s chool? Dr. Lot : :; on sai d thi s tics up wi t h a pr oposal that we se cure l egi s l ation authori zing a l ocal Sch:,:Jl Building Auth')rity.. Such an Authority by l egi sl ation should be 5 iven certain rights c:md privilege s to overcome these probl ems . Mr . Flani gen sai d that the Zoning Committee a t present time does no t trade f or zoni ng.• Mr . Alexande r so i d t hat one sugges ti on was made t hat thi s could be handled if s omeone under wrot e the City ' s s chools by insuring the l ease . Another might be for the Feder al e ove r nment to get in the a ct. & . Persells s tat ed t hat funds for low r ental Public Hous ing in Urban Renewal areas may not be used for any school cons truction whats oever. I t was brought out that f or HEW t o ass i s t on r ent al of s chools f or low r ent Public Housing proj ects would requi r e that tho l and on which such s chool s might be constructed woul d have to be a ctuall y deemed surplus . Al so that FeJoral pr ojections of t ho Labor Depnr t ment have included funds for r entals . Mr . Thigpen sai d ho doesn 1 t know of any program FHA has which could assist in this fi eld; that HUD may have somethi ng. Mr. Alexander asked if FHA ho.cl rel axe cl on certain commercial f a cili tics in housing developments? Mr . Jim Parhrun oaid EOA was thinking about Day Care and Head Start paying for r ent for facilities; that those programs arc here to stay to some degree. Dr. Lets on statoJ that one of Atlanta's tremendous advantages io a relatively l ow property t ax . It was also mentioned that General Obligation Bonds arc financ ed by property ad vnlorem tax . This was confirmed by Mr. Landers. Mr. Alexanuer emphasized .the importance of timing of community f acilities and housing developments ( s o that community facilities would be developed simultaneously with construction of houdng ). �4 Mr. Alexander asked if any faciliti es ar c being l eas ed at present time? Dr. Letson said a Catholic Sch0ol was l oas ed on nn annual r ontcl bns i s. Dr. m:irrison des cribed a system for building l ::iw-income housing being sponsored by Jones -Laughlin a t an alledged cos t of $8.SO a square f oot, which ho said w':luld not conform to local building codes . This method was one in which apartment units would be inserted - shoe box fashion - into a steel frame. Bathrooms ancl kitchens would be in line ancl served through a central shaft to save cost::; of plumbin6 • Mr. Al exanJer mentione d the pr opos ed t e chnique by National Homes to bui ld houses in Thomnoville that wci'e panelized a...-id er e cted on site. Yu-. Alexander sai d that national codes arc more flexible than local codes . Hr . Al exander t old about the t eam fr om Savannah which was to make a pres entation t o the Construction ancl DcsiGn Panel on a new propos ed proccso of construction, but the presentation haJ to be postponed because of sickness. Dr. Harri oon r oad his r eport, whi ch in es s ence sai d thnt the Conotruction and Design Panel f eel s thot it will bo necessary t o find some s ource of funding , outs i de of city funcls, and that codes r evi s i on i s essential to any r eal advances in low-cost housing. Mr. Alexander commented on Interfaith Inc., which has oi ~ht or nine incorporators. They ar e wi de spread a cross the City. He expressed high hopes for this group. Mr . Alcxarn.!cr asked Mr . Collier Gladin f or a rep0rt on tho Land Us e Plan . Mr. Gladin said that the Planning Department has been working with several different 3roups; tha t the proposed Land Use Pl an has boon presented to Aldermen on individual baGis, on commi ttee basis, ::md through the Pl an11in3 Board, and it will be brought back to them posoibly February S t o take some type of nction on. This Plan propos es the projccti 0ns that we have translated from the Atl2.nta Metropolitan Regional Plan for tho gr~wth which io anticipa t ed within tho next 15 years. It is a plan that distributes thi s gr owth. He said they mus t get a statement of pol icy from tho Board of Aldermen to support thi s basic euiclo lino approach. Tho Planner::; hnve also :ilet with nei ghborhood groups . Thoy-sroworking with the Nmwpnpers. A section ( in color) JWill be in the At lanta JournalConstitution on Fr,bruary 18, to include 2 page::;, of tho plans. There will be approximately½ million distribution of this paper~ Mr. Howland, CACUR, sai d the Plan was presented on Janug.ry ?4 to his group which unani.r.lounlysupports tho plan and that they arc pushing it. Mr. Hills said the Finance Sub-Committee has been working to es tablish tho Housing Development Corporation sponsored by tho business community. They have boon unable to get a firm commitment fr om a group which is considering furniohing the s eed money funds. Bnscd on present prospects, the Housing Development Corporation should be operational within 90 days, d �s Mr. Arch€r Smith sv.id what tho advnntages arc. ~ would bo cloligh:to<l to ohoclc national codes to see r-'Jr. Winn said we should work head-on for l egislation to permit the building of scho·:)1S by \°! evelopcrs of housing projects. Mr. Sommerville snid ho docs not think we can get by through evas ion techniques aml that we should try to use m.tiom.l codes for experimental work. Mr. Thigpen statod that tho Low-income Housing Progrrun's pipe line in the Atlanta Metropolitnn area is filled which includes FHA 221 d (3) projects; 11 proj ects of 1,352 units arc fully occupied; 11 more projects of 916 units under cozmtructi·:m; and 3 proj e cts of 108 units committed. ; One proj ect is being closed February 1, 1968; construction will s tart soon. Ho stated that ther e arc a t otru. of 2,250 units complet ed or unGor construction; that there arc 11 more projects which are in application stage; feasibility letters have been issued for 2,776 units, making a total of 4,626 units "in sight" for this program. Mr. Alexander commented on the possibility of r educinc the prices on tho remaining 221 vacant rough lots in Thomasville. Thero was no response. Mr. Alexander als o stated that Travelers Insurance Company has agr eed to finance 70 units in the Thomasville Urban Renewal area, plus about 70 more if the builder cn.n obtain the land at a reasonable price, which he can live with. Mooting adjourned at 11:30 a.m. Respe ctfully submitted, 7ho~~ CJ Malcolm D, Jones _Housing Coordinat or �