Improving subsidized city housing a challenge

Standing outside at Westhaven, which at 43 years old and 126 units is the oldest and largest of Charlottesville’s public housing sites, mold visibly seeps between brick, fences stand broken in yards and garbage surrounds trash bins.

City Councilor Julian Taliaferro, who visited Westhaven earlier this month along with Councilor Satyendra Huja, said the site’s littering issues need to be taken care of and its playground is in desperate need of repair.

“Somehow, more attention needs to be directed to keeping it up a little better,” Taliaferro said.

Officials say redevelopment of the city’s aging public housing sites, which are spread out over 11 locations and 376 units, is necessary to improve the quality of life for many of Charlottesville’s low-income residents. But taking care of the sites is a balancing act for city officials, who have to dually focus on crucial redevelopment and seemingly endless repairs and daily outdoor cleanup that comprise routine maintenance.

“The units we have right now are not adequately meeting the needs of our residents,” said Amy Kilroy, Charlottesville’s redevelopment coordinator.

Rosia Parker, who has lived in Westhaven for three years, said because many of the properties have not been adequately maintained — by residents or the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority — some of the homes look much older than they actually are.

“It should not look like this,” Parker said. “I just get tired of coming out looking at the environment.”

Noah Schwartz, executive director of the housing authority since 2005, said the neighborhood’s conditions do not always reflect the state of other sites. The housing authority has a staff member who picks up trash at Westhaven every day, among others who do additional maintenance tasks.

Schwartz said no matter how many people the authority assigns to pick up trash, nothing will change if people keep improperly throwing it away.

“I’m not saying there aren’t moments where we should have been in better shape,” Schwartz said. But, he added, “There are limits to what we can do.”

Crescent Halls is 32 years old and five other sites are at least 27 years old.

“They’re all in need of some amount of work,” Schwartz said.

No small task

The basic difficulties of taking on such a massive undertaking — creating a redevelopment model that works, overcoming the stigmas associated with public housing and garnering the funds to make it all happen — have been identified. But a new challenge has started to manifest: getting residents more involved, whether to help solve littering issues or contribute to long-term planning.

“It’s a two-fold responsibility,” said Councilor Holly Edwards, referring to the housing authority and residents’ role in shaping the future of public housing.

“It’s going to take play from both sides,” Parker said. She added, “If [residents] took pride in their homes, it could be better. It starts with us because we live here.” Parker said more transparency from the housing authority is key to getting residents involved. Residents’ misunderstanding about redevelopment has led to mistrust in the past. Now, rampant rumors about the plans are circulating in the neighborhoods.

“There’s a ton on the street right now that’s just not true at all,” Kilroy said. “We’re working on getting everyone on the same page right now.”

Mayor Dave Norris said issues of mistrust go back decades.

“There are many bad examples out there,” Norris said of other redevelopment projects.

Skepticism remains

Charlottesville is no exception. Vinegar Hill, a thriving black neighborhood in the city, was razed in the 1960s in the name of urban renewal. But it was never redeveloped as promised.

Some of the displaced residents relocated to Westhaven, but the incident cultivated resentment and mistrust among many local black residents.

Schwartz and Kilroy assure that this redevelopment will not be Vinegar Hill repeated. Because of the Uniform Act of 1970, which includes standards for federally funded programs that displace people, Schwartz said the authority has to formulate a plan as to what will happen to residents before any construction begins.

Guiding principles approved by the authority’s board also state that the project will have a one-to-one replacement for any unit that is demolished.

“Redevelopment is to the residents’ benefit,” Norris said. “But we have to be very clear upfront.”

In terms of planning the overhaul, the housing authority is just starting to scrape the surface. Kilroy said about 100 companies are considering submitting proposals, though how many applicants will do so will not be known until the deadline Thursday.

Kilroy said that in October the committee also will adopt the Residents’ Bill of Rights. Created by the Public Housing Association of Residents, it outlines the rights of public housing residents during and after site redevelopment.

Plans in the works

Once a consultant is chosen and planning begins — most likely by January, Norris said — the housing authority will work out project logistics. Those include looking at costs, which sites have the greatest priority and where units might be demolished or refurbished. Kilroy said relocation, demolition or reconstruction will not be done during planning.

“We’re literally coming up with a game plan,” she said.

Kilroy said she has been visiting the public housing sites, going door to door and having conversations with residents to keep them up to date. She said she hopes to have residents come on trips to public housing sites in other states. But the housing authority has not yet had any formal sessions or community meetings specifically about planning the redevelopment. Kilroy said she has not received clear feedback about the city’s plans.

“Getting residents involved in a real way is going to be a huge challenge,” Schwartz said. “We’ve got to find a way to put them in the driver’s seat.”

Keeping residents informed

In Westhaven, residents painted a mixed picture of how informed they were about the city’s plans. Gladys Stephens, who has lived there for almost 25 years, said she has been to some neighborhood meetings to be briefed on the redevelopment process.

“I think we’re pretty much kept informed,” she said.

But Joy Johnson, a Westhaven resident and member of the redevelopment committee, said she hoped more would have been done by now to involve residents, such as work sessions or informal meetings, “just to say, here is what’s going to happen next.”

“It’s very tough because a lot of our residents don’t understand what [redevelopment] entails,” Johnson said. “You can’t expect people just to know what it is.”

Schwartz said resident involvement in the project was not incorporated as quickly as they would have liked.

“We haven’t knocked on enough doors yet,” he said. “That’s something we’ve got to do.”

To ultimately get feedback from residents about what they want redevelopment to look like, a combination of methods must be used, Edwards said. Neighborhood involvement, she said, remains an issue in many parts of the city even outside the realm of public housing.

“It may mean the traditional outreach approaches don’t work,” Edwards said. “It may require true grassroots efforts to get the information out.”