AGENDA - San Antonio Housing Authority

San Antonio Housing Authority May 16, 2013BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSOperations and Human Resources CommitteeRESOLUTION 5349, APPROVING THE EASTSIDE CHOICE NEIGHBORHOODSTRANSFORMATION PLAN CREATED FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE WHEATLEYCOURTS AND THE EASTSIDE CHOICE NEIGHBORHOODS COMMUNITY.Lourdes Castro RamirezPresident and CEO_______________________________Kathy McCormickDevelopment Services andNeighborhood Revitalization OfficerREQUESTED ACTION:Consideration and appropriate action regarding Resolution 5349, approving the Eastside ChoiceNeighborhoods Transformation Plan for the redevelopment of the Wheatley Courts and theEastside Choice Neighborhoods Community.PURPOSE:To have the Eastside Choice Neighborhoods Transformation Plan adopted by the Board ofCommissioners prior to submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD).SUMMARY:In March 2012, the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) was awarded a $250,000 U.S.Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) FY2011 Choice NeighborhoodsPlanning Grant for the purpose of creating a Transformation Plan for the Wheatley Courts andthe neighborhood existing within the boundaries of IH-35 to the north, the railway to the east,Martin Luther King to the south and New Braunfels to the west. (SAHA was subsequentlyawarded a $29,750,000 2012 Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant in December 2012).The Choice Neighborhood Planning grant is designed to catalyze critical improvements inneighborhood assets, including vacant property, housing, services and schools. It is focused onthree core goals:People: Support positive outcomes for families who live in the targetdevelopment and the surrounding neighborhood, particularly outcomes related toresidents’ health, safety, employment, mobility and education.Housing: Transform distressed public and assisted housing into energy-efficient,mixed-income housing that is physically and financially viable over the long-term.Neighborhood: Transform neighborhood of poverty into viable, mixed-incomeneighborhood with access to well-functioning services, high quality schools andeducation programs, public assets, public transportation, and improved access tojobs.Over the course of a year, SAHA and its partners, City of San Antonio, Goody Clancy,McCormack Baron Salazar, Urban Strategies, Trinity University and Promise Neighborhoods(Choice Planning Team), held over 30 community design and planning meetings in which morethan 300 community members and representatives from public and private organizationsattended. The team operated under the premise that participation from business owners,educators, students and families living or working in the neighborhood would ensure that theTransformation Plan was based on resident and community input and grounded in other Cityadoptedplans.