Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 14, 1993 TAG: 9312140208
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The city stands to lose the funds if City Council does not approve a mandated plan to meet the housing needs of black and low-income residents.
Several council members said Monday night they might not vote for the plan, because it keeps minorities and the poor concentrated in the city.
Mayor David Bowers said the federal government is perpetuating segregation by requiring Roanoke to prepare a housing strategy for meeting the needs of minorities and low-income people while other localities in the Roanoke Valley are not required to have such plans.
"This ought to be dealt with on a regional basis," he said. "We should not continue any policy that segregates people racially or economically."
"The federal government is imposing this policy, and it is abhorrent," Bowers said.
The other valley localities need to provide some subsidized housing for minorities and poor people, he said.
Dan Pollock, Roanoke's housing development coordinator, said Salem and Roanoke County are not required to prepare similar housing plans because they don't receive federal money for housing and neighborhood revitalization.
If council does not approve the plan, City Manager Bob Herbert said Roanoke might lose the federal money.
This is the third year that council members have been asked to approve a similar plan, which outlines strategies to meet housing needs of minorities and the poor.
During the first two years, there were complaints about Roanoke's having to bear the housing burden alone. But this is the first time council members have hinted they might balk.
"A plan that continues segregation is wrong," Bowers said. "This plan must be a regional plan."
Councilman James Harvey said he agreed with Bowers.
"This is wrong, if we are the only locality in the valley which has to prepare such a plan," Harvey said.
Councilman Delvis "Mac" McCadden said he, too, was concerned about the racial implications of the plan.
Pollock briefed council members on the plan, which they will be asked to approve next week, he said.
But Bowers said he won't vote for it, unless the housing issue is addressed on a regional basis. The city should ask HUD to require a regional plan that includes Salem and Roanoke County, he said.
Bowers said the city should also ask the federal government for more time to seek a regional approach.
In recent weeks, city officials have said that the other valley localities give lip service to cooperation but refuse to cooperate on subsidized housing and other less glamorous services.
Pollock said the five-year plan includes strategies for providing affordable housing for low-income people, as well as for special groups such as the mentally ill and homeless.
He said the purpose of the plan is to assure the federal government that the city is trying to provide affordable housing with part of the money.
by CNB