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Fall 2003 |
Lancaster County Redevelopment Authority |
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FOCUS ON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT |
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Board of Directors
Cindy Stewart, Chairman Neil Kinsey, Vice Chairman Ralph Murray, Sr., Treasurer Edward Hollinger, Assistant Treasurer Miriam Fletcher
Lancaster County Commissioners
Paul Thibault, Chairman Howard “Pete” Shaub, Vice Chairman Ron Ford
Executive Director
Randy S. Patterson
The preparation of this newsletter was financed through a Community Development Block Grant from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Any questions or comments concerning information printed in this newsletter should be addressed to:
Steve Glatfelter Community Development Assistant 150 North Queen Street, Suite 110 Lancaster, PA 17603-3562 (717) 394-0793 Fax: (717) 394-7635 Email: sglatfelter@lchra.com
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Historic Center Square To Provide Housing
Chairman of the Redevelopment Board
Community Development Steering Committee Meets
Major Cuts in PA State Budget Result in Decrease in Services and Staff
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Historic Center Square To Provide Housing
These two historically significant buildings will be rehabilitated and converted into affordable rental housing, when the Center Square Apartments Project becomes a reality. This project will provide 22 two-bedroom apartments and one three-bedroom apartment that will all be affordable to families earning less than 60% of the County median income. Funded, in part, by the Redevelopment Authority’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the Center Square Apartments Project will be owned by a limited partnership, consisting of Community Basics, Inc. (CBI) and Fulton Bank. Founded by the Lancaster City Housing Authority in 1997, CBI is a housing development corporation. Its Executive Director, Kenneth P. Smith, Jr., has been developing affordable housing in Central PA and New Jersey for 25 years. Smith, who has headed CBI for three years, said that the ground breaking for this project is scheduled for sometime this fall and that by the end of November, it is anticipated that the interior rehabilitation work will begin. Eight to 11 months after the ground breaking, it is hoped that some of the units will be ready for occupancy, while work continues of the rest of the project.
Smith praised the efforts of East Donegal Township, calling Township Manager Barb Stoner and her staff “very supportive, and working with us” to get the project underway. In fact, the township received a Fair Share Housing Award this past spring. This award, which has not been given since 2000, is bestowed by the non-profit organization HomeTies and honors municipalities that make a conscious effort to integrate affordable housing in their communities. Although the main thrust of the project is to provide much-needed affordable housing, another important element is the preservation of the two historically significant buildings.
Constructed circa 1780, the smaller structure was used as a hotel/tavern through the years. Charles Cameron, the son of a Scottish immigrant, purchased the tavern about 1790. Cameron was the father of Simon Cameron, who later served as Lincoln’s Secretary of War and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1867. Charles Cameron had little success with the tavern and it changed hands several times, but was continually operated as a tavern and/or hotel. By 1836, it had become known as the Washington House. In 1978, Harry and Rachel Rebman, already operating the Three Center Square Restaurant there, acquired the building. Then in 1982, they bought the adjacent building, then known as Shenk’s Store, and connected it to the Washington House. Despite expanding the restaurant and creating a new bar, the Rebmans went bankrupt in 1992. The property was eventually sold, and both buildings remained empty.
The architects for the Center Square Apartments Project are Tippets/Weaver Architects, Inc., and Elam G. Stoltzfus, Jr., Inc. is the general contractor. Other funding for the project includes federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits and a grant from the PA Department of Community and Economic Development. Historic Preservation Tax Credits are pending approval.
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It’s time to step up to the plate!
Some of you may be thinking, “There he goes again, talking about baseball.” Actually, I’m talking about affordable housing. It is time for us as a community to put our prejudices and misconceptions aside and deal with the issue of the lack of affordable housing in Lancaster County. It is imperative that we address the affordable housing problem in Lancaster County before it becomes a crisis. I am certain there are those in the County who would say it is has already reached the point of being a crisis.
But as I read studies and newspaper articles from across the country, it is apparent to me that we have the opportunity in Lancaster County to learn from other communities that have been pioneers in providing affordable housing. To learn from communities who have successfully established growth management strategies and developed zoning ordinances and land development planning processes that have eliminated many of the obstacles to building affordable housing.
One of the most frequently stated prejudices and misconceptions about affordable housing developments is that they will reduce the property values of the neighborhood or community. A recent white paper issued by the National Multi Housing Council noted: “There is an ever-increasing body of research that indicates that apartments (even affordable apartments) are not a threat to local property values and can be a net plus to communities.” A 2003 study by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (The Vitality of America’s Working Communities) found that working communities (where residents earn between 60% and 100% of the area wide median income) with apartments comprising more than 30 percent of their housing units have sustained a 30-year increase in home values in each of the largest 42 metropolitan areas.
The University of Wisconsin Center for Urban Land Economics Research completed a study last year that focused on the impact of Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) developments on adjoining property values. LIHTC’s are one of the primary financing tools available to develop affordable housing. The study found no evidence that LIHTC properties caused property values to depreciate in the communities they observed. In fact, the study found evidence that properties near LIHTC developments appreciated more rapidly.
I encourage you to visit a web site developed by the Fannie Mae Foundation ( www.knowledgeplex.org). You will find a wealth of information on affordable housing.
Although we do not have an affordable housing crisis in Lancaster County to the degree they have one in other areas of the country, it is Game 7 of the World Series here; it is the bottom of the ninth inning; there are two outs; the count is 0-2; and we are behind. We do not have the luxury of waiting until the next inning. The time to address the need for affordable housing in Lancaster County is NOW!
Sincerely, Randy S. Patterson
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Focus On: Cindy Stewart,Chairman of the Redevelopment Board
FOCUS: How did you first get involved with the Redevelopment Authority?
STEWART: Having worked as Executive Director for the Welsh Mountain Medical and Dental Center and then for Family Services—and I also served as Treasurer of the Paradise Township Sewer Authority—I was familiar with the work of the Authorities. The County Commissioners appointed me to the Housing Authority Board nine and-a-half years ago, representing the eastern part of the county, and providing perspectives from both the human service and infrastructure funding.
Q: What do you feel you bring to the Board?
A: I now live in Lancaster City, so I think I have an interesting blend of a healthy knowledge of the County with a perspecti ve of how important the city is, too. . .I (also) certainly bring the human services experience, along with a knowledge of the municipalities that are trying to work their way through the process.
Q: You’ve also recently volunteered as a member of the Human Services Allocation Panel. Why?
A: Mostly because these recommendations do come to the Board, and I wanted a better understanding of the process and the time commitment. . . .They do great work, these volunteers. It gives me confidence in the decisions and the recommendations we are making to the commissioners for funding.
Q. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Lancaster County today?
A: One of the biggest challenges is trying to find a balance between growth, preservation, quality of life and the needs of our citizenry. At times, these things are diametrically opposed to one another. . . .Also, the challenge of township boundaries requires a dialogue, (and) the Redevelopment Authority can be an initiator of this dialogue.
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Community Development Steering Committee Meets
When she responded to an ad in a local newspaper that asked for volunteers to help determine how federal funds are spent in Lancaster County, Shirley Liebman admits she was initially skeptical. That was over 15 years ago. “Since then, I’ve really developed a tremendous respect for the ethical nature and the integrity of the Block Grant process,” says Liebman, a member of this year’s Community Development Steering Committee. As part of the Redevelopment Authority’s Citizen Participation Plan, the 17 members of the Community Development Steering Committee met this fall to review and discuss all of the infrastructure projects which were first reviewed by the three Regional Advisory Councils, as well as, five county-wide benefit projects that were presented directly to the Committee. A transplanted New Englander, Shirley lives in Holtwood in Martic Township and is an at-large representative from Region III. Her husband Harmon substitutes for her at those meetings she cannot attend.
Susan Watson, from Region I, has volunteered for 13 years. Retired from the Mountville Borough Council, she explains her continued participation: “To serve. . .is my gift back to the community. It takes a lot of energy—physical energy just to be there and mental and emotional energy to evaluate each project and rank it with care and consideration. . . (Our goal is) to stretch the money as far as it will go, to help as many people as we can.” Watson and the rest of the Committee considers the work of the three Councils, then ranks all the county-wide and regional projects together in one unified activity priority list. Funding levels are awarded to those projects that score highest in the composite priority ranking.
Bruce Clark, from the New Holland Area, has been involved in this process since the early 1980’s, and he serves on both the Region II Advisory Council and the Steering Committee. When asked what he contributes, he answers: “Age, wisdom. The intelligence to ask questions rather than telling. I used to have my own agenda, but (now) what I do is try to draw out enough information.”
Another long-time citizen volunteer, Elizabeth E. Brown says she, too, was recruited through an ad in the newspaper. “I thought it would be interesting and a good way to use a degree in Government,” says Brown, a Manheim Township resident and a graduate of Bates College in Maine. “It’s really fascinating what you learn. . . I never thought I’d know this much about sewers!” After 25 years, she still stays involved because “It’s very intellectually challenging and fulfilling to see the difference you can make with people. . . And it really is fun.”
Dennis Groff, now in his third term as a Paradise Township supervisor, has been a Region III representative for ten years and is involved because of the need he sees. Perhaps, Groff sums it up best, saying: “First of all, I think it’s just a fantastic example of democracy and how it works … Region III is such a rural area, (and) I think it’s a lot harder for a rural area to raise the kind of money needed for such projects than a larger township.”
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Major Cuts in PA State Budget Result in Decrease in Services and Staff
The 2003-2004 PA State Budget passed in March included a $33 million cut to the Human Services Development Fund (HSDF), which led to a 90% reduction of HSDF funds here in Lancaster County. As a result, 12 human service programs that received HSDF money last year were not funded this year, and those that did receive money, saw their allocations reduced by at least 25%. The cost of these cuts, however, must be viewed not in dollars and cents, but in the effect they have had on people’s lives.
Deb’s House, a Family Service program that provides emergency respite care for children under the age of seven, received only 35% of last year’s HSDF allocation. According to Jane Phillips, President/CEO of Family Service, this meant a reduction in both services and staff. Since July, the program has been serving 5 1/2 children per month, down from 24 per month. Also, the loss of funds led to having to release the program’s full-time crisis nursery manager and a night staff of ten hourly positions.
Another Family Service program, the Pregnancy and Parenting Center, did not receive any HSDF funds this year. This program provides support to pregnant teens and young mothers and their children. So far, no services or staff have been reduced, but Phillips says, “We will have to let some staff go if no (HSDF) money comes back.” Phillips further notes that these budget cuts have hit “two of the most vulnerable populations we have —children and pregnant and parenting teens.”
Dot Evans, Assistant Executive Director of the YWCA of Lancaster, has also seen a reduction in services and staff hours due to the decrease in HSDF. The Youth Sisters Outreach Program was not re-funded. Says Evans: “There is such a domino effect … how all these programs are interconnected and how it will impact future social problems. . . .I really am hopeful that the funding will be reinstated.”
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Proposed Fiscal Year 2004 Annual Action Plan Funding
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