Disputed affordable housing project gets city approval

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Key West City Commissioners have given the go-ahead to a low-income housing project along Flagler Avenue that some neighbors are vehemently objecting to.

Commissioners voted 4-2 to allow Catholic Charities of Miami to replace an existing housing facility for very low income residents at 2700 Flagler Ave. with a larger housing complex. Currently there is a 21-bed dormitory for men and 10 single room occupancy units for elderly disabled residents on the property. The new design calls for 37 single room occupancy units but the dormitory will be demolished.

The new facility will be aimed at very low, low and median income individuals who have lived in and held a job in Key West for at least one year. Continued employment will be required for all residents, as will participation in a “housing stability process” aimed at helping them develop skills to sustain consistent housing, according to Barbara Mitchell, the project designer.

“The intention is to provide a community where people can live comfortably, safely and without having to worry about if they’re going to be able to afford it next year,” she told commissioners.

However, the entire congregation of Grace Lutheran Church, located across the street from the property, and the church board of education has voted unanimously to reject the project, according to church member and spokesman Peter Bacle. Calling the current housing facility a homeless shelter, he said there have been over 200 calls to police over the last two months complaining about residents and visitors to the local soup kitchen, which until last month served a hot meal seven days a week to approximately 100 patrons on the site. The soup kitchen meal program, operated by The Basilica of St. Mary’s Star of the Sea, was moved out to Stock Island on Oct. 1, although the food is still prepared at the Flagler Avenue location.

“They [Catholic Charities] are creating a village of troubled people next to two pre-schools and an elementary school. This property has been a security nightmare for years,” Bacle said. “Our teachers, principals, pastors and church members have been cursed, have been threatened. Our property has been defiled in the most unspeakable ways routinely for many years.”

That description angered Richard Turcotte, CEO of Catholic Charities, who attended the city commission meeting. He said the proposed $4 million facility, called St. Bede’s Village, will offer counseling and therapeutic services to residents and there will be a drug and alcohol ban on the property.

“It has not been a homeless program for over 10 years. It is a program that provides stable housing for people,” Turcotte said.

But two commissioners, Sam Kaufman and Margaret Romero, had concerns about the potential impact on the neighborhood. Romero said the current plan doesn’t give neighbors a sense of security. Turcotte responded that the housing complex would have 24-hour video monitoring, four daily patrols by a security team and a phone number to call for emergencies. Catholic Charities staff would also be on-site Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm, he said.

Kaufman asked if Catholic Charities had reached out to the Grace Lutheran congregation to discuss their objections.

“I have a lot of concerns more about the harmony in the neighborhoods. I think the parents and teachers have valid concerns about what this project is presenting,” Kaufman said.

Turcotte said his organization had reached out three times to Grace Lutheran and had not received a response. Church members also had a chance to comment during the project presentation to the Key West Planning Board before board members unanimously approved the project in July.

Even Bacle agreed, however, that a meeting between his church and project planners would be fruitless.

“This subject has been beat to death already,” he said. “What we object to fundamentally is who they’re going to put into it. They’re going to put troubled people in there…. Where do you compromise with that?”

When it was time for commissioners to vote, Commissioner Billy Wardlow flatly called Grace Lutheran’s objections “a NIMBY situation,” for “Not in My Backyard.” And Mayor Craig Cates said that his granddaughter lives in the neighborhood and Cates himself is planning on building a house near St. Bede’s Village. Moving the soup kitchen away from the Flager Avenue location will eliminate many of the current problems, he said.

“I think this is a huge improvement to the neighborhood. I think at the end of the day they [Grace Lutheran congregation] will be much happier with your project,” Cates said before voting to approve the new housing complex, which will include six modular structures; five for housing and one for an administrative office and meeting room.

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