Planners table Morgan Manor expansion plan

FAYETTEVILLE — The Planning Commission will discuss the development plan for expansion of a public housing complex at its next meeting.

Jorge DuQuesne, engineering manager with Blew & Associates, agreed to table the item so Chairman Ron Autry and Planning Director Andrew Garner could weigh in on the matter. Both were absent from Monday’s meeting that ended after the newspaper’s print deadline.

The Fayetteville Housing Authority is selling the Willow Heights property at 10 S. Willow Ave. and plans to move residents to Morgan Manor. About 100 residents live at Willow Heights. The Housing Authority operates Morgan Manor under a form of Section 8 that combines public and private equity to provide rental assistance to low-income residents.

The plan will add 58 units to the Morgan Manor complex, which has 52 units. Some of the new units will be market-priced.

The plan calls for two three- story buildings, one two- story building, one one-story building and a community center with a playground on three acres of the 9-acre site at 324 E. 12th Place.

About a dozen members of the public spoke Monday against the plan, many of whom questioned the need for the move and how the Housing Authority notified Willow Heights residents. Housing Authority officials have said waning money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and extensive renovation needed at Willow Heights prompted the decision.

The Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. June 26 in Room 219 of City Hall.