Foley Housing Authority property in Aaronville rezoned

By Jessica Vaughn
Posted 1/13/20

FOLEY - The last few months have been stressful for citizens living in the Aaronville area of Foley. A request went before the planning commission requesting a rezoning of property owned by the Foley …

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Foley Housing Authority property in Aaronville rezoned

Posted

FOLEY - The last few months have been stressful for citizens living in the Aaronville area of Foley. A request went before the planning commission requesting a rezoning of property owned by the Foley Housing Authority within Aaronville from R1A (single family) and R3 (multi-family) to PUD. The Housing Authority wants to update the houses in that area, and needs the rezoning to go through by the end of December in order to apply for a grant to help with the process.

Aaronville citizens became concerned when they learned of the request as the dwellings are currently lived in. This led to many questions, the top being would residents be displaced or left homeless while the renovations were done, closely followed by concerns of an increase in rent with the newly modeled homes.

The Housing Authority stated no residents would be displaced or left without, and that no increase in price would occur for those living in the dwellings currently. The plan is to wait until a number of residents move from the homes, then to keep the buildings vacant instead of renting them out. Once enough homes are vacant, the Housing Authority will then move families in surrounding homes to another location to live while renovations are completed in sections. Council President Wayne Trawick said this process would be an inconvenience to some, though no one should be left homeless. The Housing Authority would continue to work in this method until all its properties were complete.

Those who own property surrounding the Housing Authority properties will be unaffected outside of living next to construction.

“Property that is intermingled with the Housing Authority but is not under the Housing Authority’s control is not affected, it is not being rezoned,” said councilmember Ralph Hellmich. “The only thing being rezoned is the Housing Authority property, so if anyone in that area has private property, it stays private and it stays zoned the way it is.”

The council voted during Dec. to approve the planning commission’s recommendation to rezone the property, and the Housing Authority has submitted an application for a grant to begin the project.