PANAMA CITY — A proposal to build a senior affordable housing complex on Frankford Avenue is meeting opposition from a coalition of residents and property owners, including the manager of a nearby apartment complex worried about the impact of adding apartments to the area.
The opponents pledge to arrive in a group to combat a zoning and land use change for a property at Frankford Avenue and 21st Street at the Panama City Planning Board meeting Monday.
The Panama City Housing Authority is looking to change the 11.8-acre property in front of Andrews Place from general commercial to urban residential in preparation for an about 90-unit senior affordable housing complex.
Adrian Jessome, owner and operator of WNY Holdings, which manages Heritage apartments across the street, believes that with Andrews Place and Heritage already located in the area, there enough units as it is.
“If you want to look like the ghetto in 20 years, load it up,” Jessome said.
The housing authority complex would be income-restricted, with rents limited to no less than a third of a person’s income and with a Federal Housing and Urban Development mandated maximum income of $33,350.
Nearby Andrews Place is a tax credit-funded facility managed by Services Taylor Made Inc. For a single-occupancy apartment, the resident cannot make more than $25,000 per year, leasing consultant Kim Smith said.
Jessome and resident Janet Taylor, who lives in a house on Frankford Avenue, expressed concerns about more of a police presence needed with an increase in apartments.
“A lot of crimes happen in apartment complexes,” the apartment manager said.
Azondria Lee, who lives in Heritage Apartments, wrote in a letter to The News Herald that she would prefer the land keep its commercial zoning.
“It would be nice to come home and go relax at a plaza of some sort,” Lee said.
Part of what made the area appealing to Housing Authority Director Joe Woods is the other apartments around, providing a valid reason for the zoning and land use change.
“All the people who object, it’s the old NIMBY — not in my backyard,” Woods said.
Taylor also had concerns about stormwater. She said her plumbing backed up on Thanksgiving because of a problem in the city’s pipes. Panama City Utilities Director Matt Stanley believes the city already has addressed the problem that caused this backup. Pipes leading into homes were taking on stormwater, and those pipes have now been fixed.
Much of the property the Housing Authority is considering is wetlands. However, the northernmost section, where the complex is proposed, is on drier, elevated ground. Woods said the Housing Authority has conducted a study stating that putting an apartment complex in the area would not increase the likelihood of flooding. City Public Works Director Neil Fravell agrees.
City planning staff states there is more than enough capacity with St. Andrews wastewater treatment plant and countywide for water to accommodate 100 apartments in the area.
The housing authority owns the property and has about $6 million from profits from the NorthGate Terrace II complex to use toward the $12 million project. Woods was not sure how the rest of the money would be raised, but it could include tax credits.
“Why would we use tax dollars for that?” Jessome said. “I’m not even sure we need it.”
So far, Woods said there is not an official study of senior housing in the city. However, the Towers, Asbell and Siena Gardens — all affordable senior housing — were filled to capacity in October and each had a waiting list.
“I just think this is a slam dunk,” Woods said.