Congressmen support re-opening Navy-owned Sigsbee Park housing

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

About six weeks after touring the U.S. Navy-owned Sigsbee Park, an island about a half mile north of Key West where 166 apartments have been vacant for approximately five years, four Florida Congressmen have written a letter urging the Secretary of the Navy to reopen the apartments to help combat the shortage of affordable housing in the city.

The support, which came after Key West City Commissioner Sam Kaufman set up a tour of the housing complex with several city, county and state officials on Jan. 15, came in a letter dated Feb. 29. The letter was signed by Carlos Curbelo (FL-26), Frederica Wilson (FL-24), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-27) and Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25) and asked the Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, to bring the 166 units back on-line “without further delay.”

“The City of Key West faces a severely limited availability of affordable housing due to a multitude of reasons limiting new construction including the need for safe evacuation routes in the event of a natural disaster and mitigating environmental concerns,” the letter read. “Given the acute shortage of housing in Key West which affects the Navy and the city alike, we urge you to expedite returning the housing units at Sigsbee Park to active use.”

Kaufman jumpstarted the effort by contacting Curbelo’s office asking for help in convincing Navy top brass of the urgency of the issue. While Navy Air Station Key West commanding officer Capt. Steve McAlearney, who also went on the Jan. 15 tour, was receptive to the idea of making the apartments available to active-duty military personnel stationed in the area, the decision to reopen Sigsbee Park can only be made by top Navy officials.

Calling the 166 units “move-in ready,” Kaufman said the apartments could house Navy personnel who currently rent homes in Key West, potentially vacating dozens of non-military rental units that would then be available to local workers and families looking for affordable rental housing.

“I asked the Congressman [Curbelo] to help us advocate to make these units available so that hundreds of people in Key West could have the opportunity for this housing,” Kaufman said. “This is one piece of the puzzle to moving in the direction of meeting the need of affordable housing in the City of Key West.”

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