Atlanta officials want Housing Authority to Halt Demolition of Developments

By ERIC STIRGUS - The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 11/27/07

Council members want further study of impact on tenants

A group of Atlanta City Council members wants the Atlanta Housing Authority to halt demolition of its developments until a task force they want to create can study the impact on tenants.
The council's community development committee voted unanimously Tuesday on the resolution, which was the brainchild of councilmen Ivory Lee Young and Kwanza Hall. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the resolution Monday.

The resolution came largely in response to questions and complaints two weeks ago from more than a dozen AHA tenants and community activists about the demolitions and its potential impact on seniors.

"We have to go above and beyond the call of duty to help the most valuable resource we have, which is our seniors," Young said in an interview. "Quite frankly, there are too many unknowns."
AHA officials say they have tried to answer all questions and concerns from council members.
Although the City Council has no legislative power over the Housing Authority, council members argued the AHA should cooperate because council members represent the tenants. An AHA spokesman said the agency will continue to cooperate with the council, but couldn't say if the authority would participate in a task force.

Council members want the task force results before the AHA demolishes the 250-unit Palmer House in January and the 257-unit Roosevelt House in April 2009. The demolitions are part of a $15 million project called the "Quality of Life Initiative" to demolish more than 3,000 units to redevelop its aging housing stock, some of which was built in the early 1970s. The plan will affect about 9,600 tenants, who will get federal rent-assistance vouchers, commonly known as the Section 8 program, to move anywhere.

Once the buildings are demolished, the AHA will seek bids from developers and determine what plans are best for the properties.

Since the mid-1990s, the AHA has renovated about one dozen apartment complexes into mixed-income, mixed-use properties. The effort has drawn national praise from public housing advocates. Critics complain such efforts have pushed some tenants into the suburbs, where it is tougher to get to public transportation, healthcare and other services.

Young said he wants the AHA to more thoroughly address where these tenants will go after the demolitions and whether their new housing is adequate. The councilman says there is a lack of communication between the AHA and tenants. The resolution suggests creating brochures with frequently asked questions for tenants about the process and offering tenants legal assistance about their rights.

AHA spokesman Rick White stressed the need for the Quality of Life Initiative to move forward, saying that 96 percent of tenants — most of whom are single mothers — want to leave the developments. He noted that six people were shot and two others were stabbed at one development, Bowen Homes, in the past 90 days.

"It would be a shame to see these young mothers prevented from leaving with their children while a committee deliberates," White said.

The size of the task force or the length of time they would have to come back with solutions has not been determined. Young said those details would be settled by Monday.
Story so far:

Previously: The Atlanta Housing Authority wants to raze several of its public housing developments and potentially rebuild them as mixed-income communities.

The Latest: Some Atlanta City Council members want to stop the demolition of any AHA complexes as a task force studies the impact of the authority's plan on senior citizens who will be displaced.

What's Next: The City Council will vote Monday on the plan.