HHC MIN 1972 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

• • interesting, he said , because it abuts the railroad and takes in some commercial- - property . There are some •newer apartment houses there, but the housing consists generally of very old , very dilapidated two-story woodfraine structures . ' Some street work seems necessary . The area will have to be considered for "heavy • clearance , " he suggested , and the Planning Department will have to come up with some ideas for its future use , since the railroad noise makes it inappropriate for housing . This will provide an ideal pilot study for how the City will handle land along the railroad in the future . • DISCUSSION Mel Kerwin asked if by clearance he meant tearing down the buildings ? Dick Rivas said , yes , and that the property would have to be acquired . Some units are " just beyond rehabilitation , " he said . The cost of new foundations , plumbing, wiring were just not worth it; the buildings had salvage value only . Mel, Kerwin asked to whom was rehabilitation not worth it , the owner? Rivas said , yes , to the owner . Even if they were rehabilitated , renters would probably be displaced anyway during the rehabilitation . And after rehabilitation , they probably wouldn ' t be able to afford the new rents and would qualify for rehabilitation allowances . Jim Pales said that the City wasn ' t going to tear down any buildings . He explained that these areas "A" , "B" , and "C" were merely demonstration areas to explain what options are available . Staff will also be keeping track of the amount of time involved in doing the various projects being considered , so as to come up with exact estimates of the resources and effort that they would require of the City . Mary Henderson said that the project was a training program for the Committee . It would help the Committee to see what has to be done and how much it would cost to do it , and then the Committee will have to face up to making some decisions . Jim Pales said that the decisions must also be made by the people in the area . Fred Soderer said that he hoped that at the same time the City was keeping in tune with the available federal programs , since they seemed to change from Life to time . Jim Pales said that one of the great advantages of having Dick Rivas on the staff is that he gets that information regularly from HUD , which still pays part of his salary . However ,knowing what federal money will be available is now only " educated guessing" because of legislative uncertainty . Bob Norris said to Dick Rivas that he hoped that, while he led the Committee through the educational process , he would be discussing the type of "people concerns" that he had had experience with in housing programs elsewhere . Dick Rivas said that even with rehabilitation, you have to be concerned with the homeowners ' ability to pay--whether he needs an outright grant or a low- MINUTES HOUSING CONCERNS COMMITTEE NOVEMBER 22 , 1972 PAGE 2 OF 6 %