with 140 units, two additional buildings, and space for new affordable housing. It also has 16,000 square feet of office space and 9,000 square feet of educational office space. The project will cost about $6 million, with some of that money coming from bond funds. Crossley said they’re considering the property for workforce and job training, healthy cooking and nutrition training, financial education, af- fordable and supportive housing, medical re- spite, and hospice care, with space for a sobering center and Dallas’ RIGHT Care team. The Independence Drive property has 108 units. Crossley said it could be used for workforce and job training, financial educa- tion, affordable and supportive housing and violence interrupters. This project will cost about $5 million. The city would work on community outreach and provide the ser- vices through local partnerships. The county would be throwing in $10 mil- lion to redevelop the Hampton Road and In- dependence Drive properties. All of this is on the condition that the city sells the 12000 Greenville Avenue property to Dallas County. The plans for that property are a little more vague than the others. That site will “provide opportunities to aid people in dis- tress through compassionate care, establish- ing a sustainable pathway to healing for the most vulnerable segment of our popula- tion,” Crossley’s presentation explained. Crossley said there have been a couple projects proposed for this site, but “none have worked out.” The county will take over the Greenville Avenue property and manage the project from there. “This project must serve the public use to qualify for the city’s deed transfer, which is defined in this instance as serving the community interest as identified through the local engagement to serve the most vulnerable segment of our popula- tion,” Crossley said. “This includes those that are unshel- tered, but does not bar those who need simi- lar help but are precariously housed through seeking assistance,” Crossley added. “Through this approach, the site will ad- dress the drivers of poverty I mentioned, helping to stem those issues that cause homelessness before it occurs.” This seemed to rub some committee and council members in attendance the wrong way. Committee member Cara Mendelsohn said that in June 2020, the City Council and staff agreed that every district would have a homeless facility. “In your presentation today, you added a new phrase, a phrase I hadn’t heard you say before, which is that we would have a home- less facility or something that addresses driv- ers of poverty,” Mendelsohn told Crossley. “That is not what our agreement was. If this Greenville Avenue property would address the drivers of poverty, that may be one thing, but I still want to know: Where in District 10 would there actually be a homeless facility?” Crossley said it wasn’t an and/or situa- tion. They just needed to get more com- ments from the community before saying what specifically they wanted to do with the Greenville property. “Well, the beginning place for commu- nity input in my district, as well as others, has been, ‘We will have a homeless facility. oversetD R E A M S B E A D I N G seriously unique beads WE ARE OPEN MON - SAT: 1PM-6PM! WE’RE STILL LIVE STREAMING CLASSES AT Jacob Vaughn Now, let’s talk about what it can be and how you can be part of it,’” Mendelsohn ex- plained. “The substance seems to be, in Dis- trict 10, ‘What do we want to do for people who are poor so that we don’t have a home- less shelter.’ That is completely unaccept- able. We are in desperate need of emergency shelter, transitional shelter, permanent and supportive housing and affordable housing.” With the site clear of adjacent single fam- ily neighborhoods, Mendelsohn said, it’s a perfect place for emergency or affordable housing. She said, “The community, frankly, it seems they have been misled by having missed the really important crux of the con- versation, which is, ‘You will have some kind of homeless facility.’” She said she wouldn’t support the Green- ville Avenue project unless it included inpa- tient mental health services, emergency or transitional shelter, permanent or supportive housing, or affordable housing at for people making 50% of the area median income or less. Council member Chad West pointed out the differences in the proposed plans for each site. When it came to the Hampton Road and Independence Drive properties, the uses were concrete and specific, even though they may be changed through addi- tional community input. When it came to the Greenville Avenue property, West said, “It sounds like, to me, like we’re doing yoga and meditation.” He reread the details for the Greenville Avenue property. “‘We’re providing opportunities to aid people in dis- tress through compassionate care, establish- ing a sustainable pathway to healing for the most vulnerable segment of our popula- tion,’” West said. “Then, you caveat that … by saying, ‘The projects must be reflective of the public use, serving the community inter- ests as identified by local engagement.’ That’s a step beyond what you’ve said for the other two sites.” From the outside, it looks like a continua- tion of the north-south divide in Dallas. “If you’re a community member just looking at this for the first time, it looks like you’re sending all the problem stuff, the re- ally needy uses, to the south, and you’re let- ting whatever the county decides the community up there wants and is going to be willing to take in District 10 to be put on their side,” West said. “That’s the impres- sion I get from this presentation.” Crossley said what they presented is the result of what they’ve heard from each com- munity. At a recent Housing and Homelessness Solutions committee, City Council member Jesse Moreno said he continues to get complaints about the homeless in the Central Business District. “So, communities [around] the Hampton Road facility have said they would choose to have a sobering center at the Hampton Road facility and RIGHT Care?” West asked. “We’ve gotten a hundred emails to say they don’t want it,” someone else at the meeting could be heard saying. Crossley said no one in the community asked for the sobering center, that each property can be used for different purposes, that these were just some of their ideas. Council member Carolyn King Arnold said she originally voted against the Hamp- ton Road project. It is in District 3 but bor- ders her District 4. Arnold said the pushback might look like “NIMBYism,” but it’s not. She said the communities just want a voice when it comes to what goes in their back- yard. To Arnold, the community is saying, “We don’t want to be an afterthought.” “I have to express the message given by the folks that hired me,” Arnold said. She said that she suggested a person for the group that would help determine the use for each property. If staff already have their own plans, Arnold said, she’s not sure what the group is supposed to be doing. But staff maintained that these were just their ideas and that there will be more com- munity input. “We try to come to you with some ideas and some examples,” Tolbert said. “That’s really what you see.” Tolbert said they’ve met with District 3 residents and plan to do so even more. “I’m just going to tell you what I’m get- ting from the community,” Arnold said, pre- paring to read feedback she got from a resident. The resident who wrote Arnold said they think homelessness in the Central Business District should be tackled first. “Staff is lost,” the resident wrote. “I would ask that you propose staff take a pause on all proposed homeless centers outside of the [Central Business District] for 18 months, get the [Central Business District] under control, then start additional homeless centers out- side of the [Central Business District]. Let’s not use the words potential or suggested be- cause it appears you are already in motion.” Community listening sessions regarding the plans for these properties are set through June 8. 7 Unique Clothing, Costumes, Lingerie, Rave Wear, Swimwear, Shoes & More! 2152 W. Northwest Highway, Suite 100 972-402-8208 • electriqueboutique.com PRIDE Celebrate TWITCH.TV/BEADINGDREAM Make sure To foLLoW us on facebook (beaDingDreaMs) or insTagraM (beaDingDreaMs) for The MosT up To DaTe currenT open scheDuLe! 214.366.1112 • beadingdreams.com 5629 W. Lovers Ln • Dallas, TX dallasobserver.com CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS DALLAS OBSERVER JUNE 2–8, 2022
