Stop Williams Lane Project.com

The second quarter of 2009 saw Fort Smith regional economic conditions worsen thanks to declining sales tax collections and rising unemployment, according to the The Compass report — the only comprehensive economic analysis of the Fort Smith metropolitan area.

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First, I wish I could have been there at the meeting, but in my opinion after reading the article, this really didn’t help us in our cause any.

Controversy surrounding the Housing Authority’s plans will surely come up again as it has in the past, Housing Authority Commission Chairman Richard Griffin told Fort Smith city leaders Tuesday during a joint meeting of the commission and the Board of Directors.

That said, at least one director asked for a little advance warning before his phone starts ringing, while another advised the commission to resolve potentially volatile issues before coming to the board for a vote. he meeting came about as a result of the months long controversy that erupted when the Housing Authority sought a rezoning to build a mixed-income rental subdivision with duplexes in the Williams Lane neighborhood. Residents fought the development, at one point trying to have the Housing Authority’s property rezoned for large-lot development to disallow the high-density housing planned.

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By Wanda Freeman TIMES RECORD · WFREEMAN@SWTIMES.COM Sunday, August 9, 2009 11:51 AM CDT

How does the Fort Smith Housing Authority choose its construction projects and where to locate them?

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A long battle came to an end Tuesday when the Fort Smith Board of Directors passed a zoning measure that favored the Housing Authority, to the disappointment of the neighborhood group that sought to keep a mixed-income subdivision off Williams Lane.

http://swtimes.com/articles/2009/05/06/news/news050609_01.txt

http://www.thecitywire.com/?q=node/3934

http://www.thecitywire.com/?q=node/4005

http://swtimes.com/articles/2009/05/06/news/news050609_01.txt

Very misleading title. And the info inside try’s to make the H.A. that they are the saviors of the lower income housing.
http://swtimes.com/articles/2009/04/26/news/news042609_03.txt

They are trying to make it look like what they’ve done is sooooo much better than how it use to be. And in some ways it is a huge step forward for those who have never been able to live in their own, yet rented, house.

But here’s the kicker, in the article on SWTimes.com you will see that the houmes they have already built are not fully rented. That they even dropped their standards “everyone moved into alternative housing by early July, including about 20 stragglers who had credit problems or did not qualify for vouchers because of a criminal history.” That right there is another huge issue I have about building such a dense population into an ultra non dense area where the infrastructure can’t handle it. Not to mention the city doesn’t have the money to add a sewer pump station, fill in a swamp, move utitlites, make Morrison school bigger and handle the influx of crime and vandalism that follows a large, low income project like this.

http://swtimes.com/articles/2009/04/15/news/news041409_02.txt

I think there is a definite value in what the Housing Authority is doing and I think the North Point development is an excellent model and a certain enhancement to the community. However for the following reasons outlined below I am in support of the the rezoning request submitted by Reva Stover and the neighborhood association.

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Read the story here:
http://swtimes.com/articles/2009/04/03/news/news04.txt