SARASOTA HERALD TRIBUNEFebruary 25, 2007Housing plan put on back burnerA grant will be returned, but agency isn't giving up on farmworker assistance. By CHRISTINA E. SANCHEZ PALMETTO -- Agencies that assist the poor do not routinely return millions of dollars they got in a federal grant. Yet the Manatee County Housing Authority says it has no choice.
The authority manages a south Manatee County apartment complex for low-income families and a countywide rental assistance program. In September 2003, it secured a $3 million federal grant to expand its mission and build affordable, quality homes for farmworkers.
By now, the new housing was supposed to bring relief to farmworkers who live in deteriorated, cockroach- and rat-infested units at rents of up to $1,000 a month.
But three years later, not a single house has been built on the agency's 16-acre tract near Tillman Elementary School. Now, the Housing Authority says it will give the $3 million back to the Department of Agriculture.
Housing Authority director Rob Rogers said he has not abandoned plans to construct at least 32 homes for farmworkers at 28th Street Court East and Canal Road in northeast Palmetto.
His agency pulled out of the project, called La Estancia, for now because it could not complete it by the deadline. Also, construction costs have risen, increasing the project's price tag to $5 million.
"The deadline to use the money is September 2008, and we do not want to rush," Rogers said. "We want to make the community nice and make it fit in with the rest of the neighborhood."
Another three years could pass before the finishing touches are put on La Estancia, a project meant to set a precedent for future farmworker housing in the county.
First, the authority will have to reapply for another USDA grant, but there is no guarantee more money would be awarded. March 2008 would be the earliest, Rogers said.
But if the authority secures money again, the same hurdles it encountered during the past three years are likely to reappear.
Among the obstacles was strong criticism from residents in the Canal Road area. Residents, who fear the housing will bring crime and lower property values, said in 2003 that the authority tried to "sneak" La Estancia past them without their input.
Rogers said he admits that initial plans were rushed, and the homes looked like "military-style barracks." The USDA application deadline in 2003 forced the agency to hurriedly get the plans done. He understands that residents were turned off by the project.
Designs originally called for 30 villa apartments and 24 single-family homes. The agency has since nixed the single-family homes and is back at square one.
"This time around we will definitely work with the community," Rogers said. "There is always going to be some opposition, but we can make it as palatable as possible."
But resident Clarence Love hasn't changed his mind about La Estancia. Love, who has lived in his home on 30 adjacent acres for eight years, has opposed the plans from the start.
He worries the housing will bring migrant workers who are transient and have no investment in the community. He wants residents who live and work there year-round and will not bring trouble to the neighborhood.
A better place, he says: "Put them on the farms. These farmers have thousands of acres. In the old days, when I was growing up, the farmers housed their own people."
Love also said he fears the rural feel of his neighborhood will disappear if too much housing is built. Pastures, trees and narrow dirt roads encompass the community of ranch-style homes and villas.
Another pending problem for La Estancia: the zoning.
Canal Road properties are currently zoned for one house per acre. The agency wants to build three or four houses per acre.
The Housing Authority purchased the land in July with $415,000 from the county. Changing the zoning will be the authority's project during the next year, Rogers said.
Former County Commissioner Pat Glass launched a nonprofit foundation in 2005 to support projects such as La Estancia. She believes the Palmetto concept can still be done.
The Jumpstart Foundation seeks to educate the public on the affordable housing needs of farmworkers, the homeless and other low-income workers.
The Canal Road site for farmworker housing is ideal, she said, because it is near migrant programs and the fields.
"We really need this housing. I think it could be a model for the way to do other affordable housing projects like this," Glass said.
Sister Nora Brick, of Stillpoint House of Prayer, said farmworker housing is desperately needed. Through her outreach work during the past decade, Brick has witnessed farmworkers' struggle to pay rent on their $7,500 average yearly salary. About $500 a month is as much as they can afford, she said.
Farmworkers often crowd into homes or trailers with droopy floors and cracked walls to be able to afford the rents. Some farmworkers sleep on the floors. Air conditioning and heat may not be available. In some cases, there are no bathrooms.
"It is a constant struggle. They are in a state of powerlessness," Brick said. "With affordable housing, they would be able to start some viable type of life."
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