Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Residents question proposed
airport land deal for public housing
By Adam Kealoha Causey
The Shreveport
(LA) Times
Shreveport residents told city councilmen Tuesday night to
vote against a proposed land deal that would put public housing on what is now
airport property.
City Council members Joe Shyne, Ron Webb, Joyce Bowman
and Calvin Lester responded to concerns from among 30 members of west Shreveport
neighborhood associations who attended an hourlong meeting in the Bill Cockrell
Park Community Center. Dale Sibley, Mayor Cedric Glover's transition
coordinator, and Shreveport Airport Authority board member Howard Malpass also
spoke.
The gathering was aimed at addressing inter-neighborhood concerns,
said organizer Billy Wayne, of the Fairway Forest Northwest Neighborhood
Association, one of 11 represented.
But the land deal was the main
focus.
Residents asked whether City Council members would vote for the
$1.1 million proposal and what removing residents from other parts of the city
would mean to those neighborhoods.
The project would replace Allendale's
Jackson Heights, the low-income complex the Housing Authority demolished this
year. Housing Authority board members decided not to build again on that site
because it sits at the northernmost end of Interstate 49. Construction of I-49
from that location north to Arkansas border could take up the Jackson Heights
property.
Raymond Hill, of the Western Hills Estates Homeowners
Association, said he and many others are troubled by declining enrollment at
Allendale and Lakeside schools -- reminders of those neighborhoods' former
glory.
"I can understand that the airport needs some revenue to operate.
But I would hate to see our inner city become a doughnut hole."
Lester
and Shyne -- who at one point asked for a show of hands of Booker T. Washington
High School alumni -- both said they opposed the deal.
"I'm quite
concerned with any attempt to take people out of Allendale," Lester said.
"Allendale will not come back unless we populate it."
Malpass reminded
councilmen and residents the deal is still a proposal. This is not the Airport
Authority's decision. All we were asked to do was make the property available,
and we did."
The Airport Authority voted 3-2 on Nov. 16 to offer a
47-acre piece of land on West 70th Street for the 464-unit development, which
would be owned and operated by the Shreveport Housing Authority. Airport
Authority Chairman Dr. C.O. Simpkins has said he voted against the deal because
it never went up for public bid.
The Shreveport City Council and mayor must approve the deal for the
sale and construction to take place.
Developer Jeff Dunman has said that
hopes the council would vote yes after the first of the year.
If the
council approves the deal, the new complex would be ready for tenants in 2008.
Rents, set by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, would range
from $500 to $800 a month.
bilde?Site=D9&Date=20061206&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=612060334&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=375
