YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC December 20, 2006
Farm-worker housing could come to Wapato
WAPATO -- If things go as planned, a $9 million farm-worker housing project with 51 rental units could break ground here in July. City Council members voted this week to annex and rezone 10 acres on French Lane to allow the project being planned by the Diocese of Yakima Housing Services. A large number of Wapato's roughly 4,525 residents are farm workers, and the project would fill a huge need, said Mayor Jesse Farias. "It creates some affordable housing for people that live in town," he said. "Reasonable housing for folks. Some of our citizens reside in what you'd call ramshackle housing and this will help alleviate that problem." It will be Wapato's first low-income housing project built specifically for farm workers. If funding comes together by late April as hoped, the project could break ground by July and be completed in a year, said John Probst, housing services development manager. The state has contributed $2 million to the project, while housing services is asking for an additional $7 million from low-income housing funds made available through the federal government. About 4.5 acres behind the Wapato Community Center would be used to construct about 12 buildings that would offer two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, Probst said. A community center consisting of a kitchen, classroom and meeting rooms is also planned. There, residents would be offered classes on English as a second language, as well as classes on home ownership, home improvements and consumer credit counseling, Probst said. It will be the housing service's seventh farm worker housing project in the Yakima Valley, he said. "There is a huge need for not just decent housing, but affordable decent housing," he said. "This is a step in the right direction." Two years ago, the City Council asked the Diocese of Yakima to construct housing for farm workers, Probst said. The council's annexation and rezone approval is contingent on an environmental review period that ends today. So far, there's been no indication of any problem.
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