Affordable housing in East End on hold
Judge orders apartment projects halted until Dec. 3 over claims against housing authority
Two affordable housing projects in the East End were put on hold when a state district court judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday.
The order, by Judge Cory Don Sepolio, found claims against the Houston Housing Authority in a suit brought by a local developer probable enough to order the projects to come to a halt until Dec. 3.
In his lawsuit, also filed Tuesday,
developer Alan Atkinson accused the Authority of improperly notifying residents and business owners — many of whom oppose the affordable apartment developments — that resolutions related to the developments were on a meeting agenda before voting to approve them. A failure to properly notify the public would violate the Texas Open Meetings Act and could void the approvals granted at the meetings.
Atkinson’s petition took issue with multiple public notices it said used vague language to describe decisions related to the purchase of land along the Buffalo Bayou in the East End to make way for two affordable housing projects that could add 1,400 units to the area. The Authority also discussed a resolution that was not on its public agenda at all, the suit claims.
The temporary restraining order prevents the Authority from acting on any of the votes that have been called into question, although the Authority will be able to attempt to cure the alleged Texas Open Meetings Act violations by holding new votes that follow proper procedure.
The Authority did not address
specific allegations but said it is in compliance with the law.
“Our commitment to helping residents and communities thrive requires accountability to state and federal requirements, including the Texas Open Meetings Act,” Tory Gunsolley, chief executive of the Authority, wrote in an email. “HHA firmly follows the guidelines set forth by the Texas Open Meetings Act for every open meeting.”
Atkinson’s suit cited agenda items such as “Memorandums of Understanding with The NRP Group” and “Authorization of Acquisition of the EADO 800 Apartment Site” as examples of vague language. The first was to allow an apartment developer to replace two public housing communities to be torn down to accommodate a wider highway; the second authorized the Authority to purchase the land.
The proposed projects, which would be owned by the Housing Authority and would contain a mix of affordable and market-rate units, have drawn pushback, with residents and small businesses launching a website, saveeastend.com, questioning the Authority’s plans to bring so many units to an area they say is already flush with affordable housing.
In the suit, Atkinson, whose company, Bayou Vista, owns property in the area, called the phrase “EADO 800 Apartment Site” “meaningless,” “insufficient” and “misleading.”
“It is not an address or a publicly
understood term — such as ‘The Galleria’ or ‘Toyota Center.’ It does not advise the general public in any way as to what property might be affected and therefore does not advise the general public in any way of the subject of the business to be considered at the meeting,” he wrote in the petition.
In a phone interview, Atkinson said he has been a developer in the neighborhood for 23 years and has had a hand in improvements such as the hike and bike trails built along the banks of the Buffalo Bayou. Along with East End resident Tony Padua, Atkinson developed townhomes along the south bank of the bayou in the four blocks east of Jensen Drive — directly between the two proposed affordable apartment buildings.
“The intent was to privately masterplan this particular small part of the neighborhood to be a walkable, pedestrian-oriented neighborhood where people would be able to find a cup of coffee and walk there,” Atkinson said. He still owns 3.3 acres on Jensen Drive, which he said he had been in the process of selling to a mixed-use developer when news of the affordable developments broke.
Housing Authority meeting minutes show one item related to the developments, a memorandum of understanding with Ojala Partners LP, a real estate firm registered in Dallas, was not included in the Oct. 15 agenda but was discussed and tabled during the meeting.