Building affordable housing is the latest cash grab scheme, cash the government really doesn't have but doles it out anyway in the form of grants to those clever enough to qualify and sing the right tune.
Built on 1.9 acres on the railroad tracks, La Joya Village (low-cost rentals built out nearly to the curb), is almost complete. If you recall, the CRA used money from the $23 million NSP2 grant to purchase the land. The CRA was to contribute $1.8 million from the federal NSP2 grant toward the $10.6 million projected cost of the project. When you build affordable housing, a developer can always expect to receive other financing and tax credits: low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bond money provided by the county’s Housing Finance Authority.
7th Avenue South across from La Joya Village
7th Avenue South is the street that the City of Lake Worth wants to pave using $480,750 in CDBG grant funds for the road project that will go through from directly across from La Joya Village to A Street. The city wants to put in a two-way street in order to accommodate the Texas-based Realtex Development Corporation and the Community Land Trust of Palm Beach County, a not-for-profit affordable housing group.
Paving 7th Avenue South is all a part of the free cash scam--government grants to the City of Lake Worth.
7th Avenue South is a street that has been quiet with little traffic with most of it blocked off, used by neighborhood kids who have no park and no where to play. Now the city wants to change all of that to suit a low-cost housing developer that is getting much of his money from the government including Lake Worth and the CRA.
Citizens from around the 7th Avenue South neighborhood and in the city came to a recent city commission meeting to relay their concerns. Of course, the "best commission ever" supporters believe that these residents are thwarting progress even complaining about Commissioner McVoy who brought forth the complaints and pulled the item from the Consent Agenda for discussion. People who have concerns seem to solicit the help of Commissioner McVoy knowing that he will listen and try to resolve them.
All of us are hoping that this low income project (La Joya Villages) does not add problems to this neighborhood and that all the surrounding residents' anxieties will be addressed.
This city can tick me off. They need to worry about paving and fixing the roads we do have and where people actually drive their cars instead of concentrating on roads that have never been paved all for some developer. Sick.
ReplyDeleteWhat's really sick is that the city is trying to pave a road that should have been paved a long time ago and now the know nothings do nothings are up in arms. Besides the city did try to worry about paving and fixing the roads we do have and the know nothings do nothings were up in arms about that too.
ReplyDeleteClearly this is another guest blogger blog that you didn't provide credit for.
as much as i agree worth due process in decision making i don't see how anyone can complain about a road getting paved.....this is 2014 after all. Lynn, we both agree there is too much blight in Lake worth......do you not consider a dirt road to be blight?
ReplyDeleteWhat's sick is the city not reaching out to the neighborhood on this. No one knew about any meetings. What's sick is paving a road for a developer and not considering the people who live near or on it. All of a sudden a developer comes along and voila, 7th Avenue south becomes another 6th Avenue South speedway. I don't consider a gravel road to be blight. Let's fix the roads where people drive as anonymous said above.
ReplyDeleteOk, anonymous @10:51---for some very strange reason you believe someone else writes this blog. Why is that, anonymous? Is it because the blog is too well written and I'm just not smart enough to give facts? Or is this just more "ball busting"...something you are good at? Take it where the sun don't shine.
If we can get someone else to pay to have this road paved, yes we all pay taxes, but taxes are felt in different ways, I say have the road properly designed and paved. 7th Ave. South could be properly designed to include wide sidewalks, bike lanes, landscaping etc. to get peds and bikes off of 6th Ave south and could be a real benefit to the community if done properly.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the City did a good job or not reach out to the neighborhood. The City's communication efforts seem to ebb and flow.
Right, all these dirt roads should have been paved years ago, it is a sin, it is not fair to the people who live next to these dirt roads, all the dust and dirt. This city needs to just pave all DIRT roads in city limits first, that should be the priority number 1!
ReplyDeleteDirt roads are blight? Not to my eyes. If this road is a little natural area where the kids play, then for God's sake leave it alone! A little piece of nature is what they need. What ogre would take that away?
ReplyDeleteThe city won't maintain the EXISTING roads that the residents WANT maintained. However, the city wants to CREATE a two-way road that the residents DO NOT WANT! You can't make this sick $hit up.
ReplyDeleteTell the people in Loxahatchee Groves that dirt roads are blight! They fight to keep the road unpaved. And it ain't exactly cheap to live there.
ReplyDeleteI would think the kids like the dirt road.
The powers that be just want to be the lords and ladies of some great metropolis lol. The recent efforts are their pathetic ways of doing it, as they could never make it in San Francisco, Portland or wherever. Just naming some popular cities.