Why the Gulf Is Not Recovering
I’ve banged on Louisiana for its foot-dragging with the Gulf recovery efforts, but now it’s Mississippi’s turn. The city of wavelad, nearly flattened by Hurricane Katrina, has lost its mind.
City leaders denied several special permits Monday, prompting the world’s largest charity homebuilder to abandon plans to construct new houses for more than 70 local families.
The Board of Aldermen supported a recommendation from city planners to deny special permits that would have allowed Habitat for Humanity to build nearly 20 new homes on lots that are smaller than the city’s code requires.
Habitat, which is building thousands of houses along the Gulf Coast, was planning to build at least 70 new homes in Waveland, where more than 200 families remain on a waiting list.
Instead, Habitat will finish up work on “two or three” homes for families who already own property large enough to meet the city’s standards. After that, the group will look elsewhere.
“We’ll find places to build, but it won’t be in Waveland,” said Wendy McDonald, who runs the Hancock County chapter of Habitat. “We will focus the bulk of our energy on communities that are more receptive to smaller-sized lots.”
McDonald has said large lots are more expensive, which drives the mortgage payments out of reach for most Habitat homeowners.
In addition, she said many who qualify for Habitat homes are senior citizens and single moms who would have trouble caring for a large lot.
“I’m not so sure any affordable housing builder can afford to build on larger lots; the math just doesn’t work,” McDonald said. “There’s no consideration for affordable housing in Waveland and that’s where the housing shortage is the most severe.”
The 20 lots that were denied are in the predominantly black neighborhood of Middletown, but Alderman Brian Schmitt said most of the resistance came from residents living in different parts of the city. “The opposition wasn’t just from Middletown, it was from everywhere,” Schmitt said. “People don’t want smaller lots and that’s what the ordinance is there for.”
Schmitt, who represents parts of Middletown, said he wrestled with the decision for weeks, and casting a vote that could prevent construction of dozens of homes can make it tough to sleep at night. “Having to make that decision killed me,” he said. “I went home and cried like a baby.”
Since March, aldermen have approved several recommendations from city planners allowing special permits similar to the requests they denied from Habitat. One property owner was allowed to divide his property into eight lots, each seven feet smaller than the city’s code requires, and another homeowner was allowed to divide one lot into two, one of which did not meet the city’s square-footage requirement.
However, Schmitt said, none of those requests caused nearly the kind of fuss that surrounded Habitat’s plan. He said such large-scale development on small lots could jeopardize property values for existing homeowners, and homes built close together could create dangerous fire hazards.
This is just plain stupid. Racism? Who knows? But it’s 70 homes that will not appear on the tax rolls. Can Waveland really afford to be that short sighted? Waveland was levelled, essentially zero property values.
Homes built close together is called city living. It creates no appreciably greater fire hazard.
What a bunch of maroons! [Bugs Bunny]
