Man tries to stop authority project
A Uniontown man is soliciting signatures for a petition he intends to present to the Fayette County Housing Authority at its next meeting, calling for the public housing agency to abandon its plan to rebuild Lemon Wood Acres. Joe C. Lovis said that he sees no need for the authority to follow through on its plan to build 56 public housing units on the North Union Township site. The authority is looking at a $13 million renovation for the site, to be dubbed Laurel Highlands Estates.
“A lot of the community is outraged by this, absolutely,” said Lovis. “It’s costing the taxpayers millions of dollars to add more subsidized housing units that are not needed.”
At its July meeting, the authority’s board of directors voted 4-1 to approve the first step in securing capital revenue bonds from the state to make the project a reality. Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink, who favors selling the site outright, cast the only nay vote, citing the project’s high cost and a current vacancy rate that hovers around 10 percent.
Lovis said he and another person are spearheading the effort to collect signatures from county citizens, as a means of convincing the housing board to alter its course.
“We should have 1,000 names this week,” said Lovis. “We intend to go to the (next) housing authority meeting and present it to the housing board. We’re going to try to overturn their decision to rebuild Lemon Wood Acres.”
Lovis said he lives “very close” to the old Lemon Wood Acres site, which contained 150 row-housing units before it was razed earlier this year. He said his core group of supporters thinks that restoring public housing to the site will bring back the potential for trouble.
“The horror stories of the people who actually lived there and next to it … it’s horrible what happened to those folks,” said Lovis. “This is the perfect time (for citizen input). Now that it’s torn down, they’re not obligated financially (at the housing authority) to keep it running. They have the option to sell it, and that’s what we want to see.”
He added, “I think it’s vital to keep tax dollars away from a public institution and let the private sector do its job.”
Lovis said anyone wishing to get involved in his petition-signing drive could contact him at 724-438-7572.