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HomeMy WebLinkAboutINNOVATION ISLAND, FIRST FILING - PDP - 40-05A - MEDIA - APPLICANT COMMUNICATION5/y/06 Topic: Habitat for Humanity's Innovation Island No preferential treatment, just good policy I was saddened to read Gabe Lowe's Soapbox in the April 27 Coloradoan. Lowe implies that Fort Collins city planners gave special consid- eration or gave Habitat for Human- ity preferential treatment in our ap- plication for Innovation Island de- velopment at the comer of Taft Hill Road and West Harmony Road. Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, not one pen- ny of city money referred to by Lowe was used. There is a prescribed process that every developer must follow. Habitat for Humanity followed that process to the letter. The land is zoned LMN, Low -density, Mixed - use Neighborhood. Multi -family residential is a permitted use. Habitat submitted an attractive plan. We hired excellent land plan- ning consultants, traffic and civil engineers, who designed a func- tional attractive development, not an unattractive "low-income proj- ect" as Lowe would lead you to be- lieve. Habitat families are decent, hard-working people. They are not given their homes. In addition to "sweat equity," they all must save for a down payment, pay a mort- gage and property taxes. They at- tend mandatory homeownership training and are better prepared for home ownership than most first- time buyers. Habitat owners worked hard to achieve their goal of home ownership and are ex- tremely proud to be homeowners. They take good care of their homes. Fort Collins Habitat has not had one fore- closure, which is amazing consider- ing the foreclosure rates in Colorado, currently highest Candace in the United Mayo States. We were Soapbox thrilled when this parcel came on the market. It is an opportunity for in - fill development that the city has been advocating to prevent sprawl. We can now build housing that is closer in town. Although all facili- ties aren't within a 1-5-mile radius of services that Lowe feels is desir- able, it's closer than other areas in which we've built, as indicated at the neighborhood meeting. The city's latest "Priority Afford- able Housing Needs and Strategies Report." shows that there is a dire need for housing affordable to fam- ilies earning 35 percent to 50 per- cent of the area median income. These families work in retail and service industry jobs here in our community. Habitat is the only or- ganization providing home owner- ship for this income range. Both city planning staffs and City Coun- cil have recognized the need for "affordable" or as I prefer to call it, "wage -appropriate" housing. Lowe's comments tell me his re- al issue is that he's afraid that Habi- tat Housing will affect his home's value. Those of us who work to ad- vocate and provide affordable housing in our community are weary fighting NIMBY (not in my backyard) phenomenon where neighbors reject affordable hous- ing. It's inappropriate to say they don't want "those people" in my neighborhood, so they claim traffic issues, overcrowding of the schools, impact to their home value — and, of course, preferential treat- ment All these issues were investi- gated by the city and determined to be unfounded. One wonders why, if Lowe is so concerned, he never signed in at the required public neighborhood meeting, never signed in to speak at the Planning and Zoning Board hearing or at the City Council ap- peal hearing. Why didn't Lowe come forward earlier? Our vision for Fort Collins is that it is an inclusive community. We recognize that every resident has worth and can contribute to the greatness of our city. We do not discriminate because of a person's race, sex, religion or economic abil- ity. Habitat families are "salt of the earth" people who are a credit to themselves and the city. I hope that once Innovation Island is built, Lowe will introduce himself to his neighbors, and maybe then, his fears will be abated. Candace Mayo is executive direc- tor of Fort Collins Habitat for Humani- ty Inc. ele/graolean