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HOUSING POLICY BOARD Eugene Lane County Springfield HACSA  Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 To: Mayor and City Council From: J. Norton Cabell, Chair, Intergovernmental Housing Board Re: Bascom Village At its Monday meeting, the Housing Policy Board voted to recommend the city move ahead with the transfer of the landbank site on County Farm Road and the related HOME funds and SDC waivers to enable St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Housing Authority to build the proposed 101- unit affordable housing complex. The vote was 7 in favor, one opposed (Commissioner Sid Leiken), and one abstention (Councilor Chris Pryor). The decision was made after much neighborhood input, most of it opposing the project. Neighborhood opposition to affordable housing projects is not new (we recall the opposition to Woodleaf Village in 1993 and to Hilyard Terrace in 1999). Once it became aware of the level of opposition, the Board provided a tour of similar developments, held a two-hour Q&A meeting at Sheldon Community Center, then an additional public hearing (also at Sheldon). At our meeting on Monday, we discussed in an almost two hour meeting the factors the opponents cited to support their opposition. Those factors and arguments include: Process—we didn’t give the neighbors enough notice Traffic—the development will increase traffic on nearby streets Emergency response—police and fire won’t be able to get there quickly enough Access to services—the bus is too far away; there aren’t sidewalks on the way to the bus stop. Schools—neighborhood schools are already too crowded Density—the city’s housing dispersal policy is being violated The Board discussed each of those (and others), considering whether any one of them (or the totality of several of them) should dictate that the project not be built at all or be substantially re-worked. 1 of 2