Willow Heights plan in Fayetteville moves along, neighbors seek other options

FAYETTEVILLE -- Members of the public expressed their feelings about moving residents out of public housing at Willow Heights and into a Section 8 program at Morgan Manor but the process likely will go on as planned.

Housing Authority officials have said waning federal money over the years has created a need to find other ways to pay for needed maintenance, repair and renovation costs. Capital money awarded to the Housing Authority dipped from $357,929 in 2008 to $239,360 last year.

In March, the board agreed to sell the property for $1.25 million to electrician Vlad Tatter and his partners with Willow Heights LLC. Tatter has said he intends to build homes on the 5-acre lot. The board first got word of interest in purchasing the property a year before and the issue came up in multiple meetings in between.

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Morgan Manor, at 324 E. 12th Place, sits about a mile south of Willow Heights. It has 52 units on a 9-acre site. The complex operates under a form of Section 8 called the Rental Assistance Demonstration program, which combines public and private equity to provide rental assistance to low-income residents.

A plan under consideration by the Planning Commission would bring 58 units to about 3 unused acres on the east side of the Morgan Manor property. A few of the units will be available at a market rate. The Planning Commission will take up the plan for the second time on Monday.

Melissa Terry, who owns about 10 acres northeast of Morgan Manor, headed a survey of 15 respondents at Willow Heights and presented its findings to the Housing Authority Board on Thursday. Willow Heights has 40 units and about 100 residents.

"What we gleaned from this survey experience is that, one, they were really thankful somebody came to their door and asked for their opinion," she said. "Two, they don't want to move. They want to fix it up."

Commissioner Chris White said the board did its due diligence. Other members said the matter was discussed at multiple public meetings with little attendance.

"We feel like we did what we needed to do in regards to that offer," White said. "We are comfortable, at least the folks who voted on it, that we got an offer we couldn't refuse, let's say."

Several members of the audience asked why the Willow Heights property sale didn't go out to bid. Chairman Mike Emery said the Housing Authority owns the property like anyone owns property for a house and isn't part of the city government. The cost to renovate Willow Heights, if possible, would far exceed the Housing Authority's financial capabilities, he said.

"Fiscally, this was the best option we have," he said. "We just don't have the millions of dollars to do this. I don't know anyone who's going to come forward with millions."

Whether the move will take place depends on if the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration grants the Housing Authority a tax credit that would pay for the project. Notification should come sometime in August, said Deniece Smiley, Housing Authority executive director.

The buildings and sidewalks at Willow Heights aren't compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act standards and the Housing Authority gets "dinged" every year because of it, Smiley said. The expansion at Morgan Manor will bring an office and exercise room to the site and units will feature dishwashers and accessible bathrooms, she said. Bathrooms at Willow Heights are on the second floor of the units.

"They're going to be in better housing conditions than what they are. Our mandate is to provide safe, decent and affordable housing. At this point right now, if it's not ADA-accessible, it's not very safe."

Bill Reagan, owner of Reagan Family Farm in south Fayetteville, said he took issue with the idea there are no other options. People in the city are creative and when working together could come up with a better solution than cramming hundreds of low-income residents onto about 10 acres.

"You've got a lot of people on the south side who are willing to work," he said. "It's not a south side problem, it's a Fayetteville problem."

NW News on 06/23/2017