Council OKs role-changing apartment project for Housing Authority
LAKEWOOD – The Lakewood Housing Authority is moving from its role as a provider of low-income housing, choosing instead to serve moderate income residents with approval of a 176-unit housing project near the site of what will be the Lamar Street light rail station.
The Housing Authority, now doing business as Metro West Housing Solutions, won unanimous City Council approval of the project after a marathon 5-hour meeting Monday.
Council’s 11-0 vote for the project came despite objections from nearby residents, who are concerned the high-density, project would compromise safety, overcrowd nearby schools and discourage private investment in their area of Lakewood’s Ward 2.
“We have significant concerns regarding the rezoning ordinance for 6150 West 13th Avenue,” said Sara Farrar-Nagy, who spoke as a representative of the Two Creeks Neighborhood Organization.
Among those concerns, Farrar-Nagy said, are safety, the changing focus of the Housing Authority, a “lack of transparency” by the agency, the project’s “incompatibility” with neighborhood area plans and its increased density. Farrar-Nagy also expressed concern about the project’s increased enrollment at already overcrowded schools that could be exacerbated by LHA’s tax-exempt status. The neighbors also are concerned about the project’s effect on property values and the “transient” nature of renters.
LHA plans to build the three-building, multi-family complex on a 5.34-acre parcel on the south side of W. 13th Avenue between Lamar and Harlan streets. The $40 million project calls for up to 33 units per acre with a handful of live/work and commercial units. The mixed-use project incorporates three residential four-story apartment buildings varying from 55 to 65 feet high above one-story parking garages.
The vacant parcel, a former impound lot, will require some environmental clean-up and mitigation, according to Tami Fischer, CEO and executive director of LHA, now operating as Metro West Housing Solutions.
“Although nothing can be promised, an environmentally contaminated site is not increasing property values,” Fischer said, later adding that the project “will clean up an environmentally contaminated site. That will improve air, water and soil quality.”
The change in the housing agency’s mission from providing scattered, low-income properties to a goal of serving “mixed-income” clients also drew criticism from the neighborhood group.
“We are surprised by the recent sale of Lakewood Housing (Authority) properties at 979 Upham and 1211 Reed. We are alarmed by the additional number of properties that are currently for sale” by LHA, Farrar-Nagy said. “We are deeply concerned about the changing business model of the Lakewood Housing Authority from these smaller, integrated properties into one of more concentrated units on fewer sites.”
Farrar-Nagy also questioned the viability of LHA’s traffic estimates, saying they are based on a “purely theoretical traffic study” based on past patterns and do not take into account a number of streets that have been closed to traffic at their intersections with the light rail line.
Fischer told City Council the agency is committed to answering the concerns raised by the project’s neighbors.
“The neighborhood is justifiably concerned with the changes that come with light rail,” Fischer said shortly before the unanimous vote for approval of the project. “We respect their concerns and offer them an ongoing promise of engagement.”
