PORT ACRES —



Housing project disturbs Port Acres residents



By Sherry Koonce

The News staff writer

PORT ACRES — About 75 people gathered for a town hall meeting Tuesday to voice concerns that a proposed low income housing development could decrease property values and increase crime while posing environmental issues.

The Port Acres residents attended the meeting at the community’s KC Hall, where the Port Arthur Citizens Action Group presented information on the proposed Port Arthur Housing Authority project.

Plans are to utilize a portion of the $46.5 million disaster recovery money received by the housing authority to build 100 government subsidized single-family homes adjacent to the little league park on Ray Ave.

The housing project in Port Acres would replace Port Arthur’s Gulf Breeze apartment complex, which would be torn down. Families would be transitioned off of public housing assistance to home ownership.

In total, the Housing Authority has four projects in the works — three apartment complexes and the Ray Ave. housing project. All are either in the design or construction phase.

“What makes everybody think we want all this trash in Port Acres?” Shirley Hawthorn, 78, said.

Terry Bearden, head of the citizen action group, said whether one lives in Groves, Nederland, Port Neches or Port Arthur, everyone is subject to the impact of low income public housing.

“It eats away real bad a the tax base, and increases crime,” he said.

In addition, the citizens group believes the proposed housing development site has environmental problems that were not detected from an environmental assessment.

Bearden said the report stated that the 71-acre area was not located on a flood plain, was at least five feet above sea level, and was not a wetlands project. That informatin was just wrong, he said.

The land very likely has abandoned oilfield storage tanks on site, he said.

Experts hired by the citizen group found the property to be a habitat for at least 20 plant species specific to wetland areas. In addition, about 90 to 95 percent of the property is 2-feet below sea level, Bearden said.

“This type of information was used to qualify for federal funding,” Bearden said. “The Department of Housing and Community Affairs had to review this study before they released the funding.”

Port Arthur Housing Authority Commissioner Ronnie Linden explained that conceptually, it is better to build single-family houses as opposed to large apartment complexes because it is safer and generally there is less crime.

Linden said the housing authority had made an all-out effort to find a suitable location for the housing project, but had difficulty finding a continuous property free from title problems.

City Manager Steve Fitzgibbons said the city was a separate entity from the housing authority. Other than the mayor appointing a member to the Housing Authority commission, the city has no say on how the housing authority conducts business.

Contact this reporter at skoonce@panews.com.