Subscribe free to our daily email newsletterVictory Housing Withdraws Financing Letter Request
Feb 5, 2010 14:42 - 5 Comments
As many >Rockville Central readers know, there is an ongoing effort to develop an affordable senior housing project in the Town Center area. It is being proposed by Victory Housing, Inc., and has been the subject of some controversy. This post links to most of the relevant article here.
On Monday, the developers went before the Mayor and Council requesting a letter of support from Rockville, which they need in order to complete their financing application, which relies on state tax credits. The Mayor and Council decided to hold off on any action until their next meeting, February 8.
Here are the basics from the Gazette’s recap of that meeting:
Developers of an affordable senior housing project slated for construction in Rockville asked the City Council on Monday to back its bid for State Tax Credit funding, but the city chose to wait until next week to make a decision.
Victory Housing Inc., the development branch of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, asked the council to send a letter to the state saying it supports Victory Court, a proposed four-level apartment building bounded by Maryland Avenue and Monroe and Fleet streets.
After several council members and city residents raised questions about the application process and how the public was notified of the funding mechanism, the council chose to wait until its Feb. 8 meeting to consider sending the letter.
Today, Victory Housing has formally withdrawn its request for the letter of support. They did so in a three-page letter that details their efforts at community involvement and input to date.
Click the image below to read the full letter:
(The withdrawal comes in the last paragraph of the letter.)
Given the number of reviews that Victory Housing has already gone through, I can certainly understand their frustration with the city. Having been present at two of the three Board of Appeals meetings, I also understand that the neighbors aren’t thrilled with the project. However, the necessary review process worked like it was supposed to.I am disappointed with the mayor and council for introducing an unnecessary delay.
Mayor and Council were completely within their rights and responsibilities to ask for a one-week delay given the sudden appearance of the agenda item. Had we voted this past Monday, we would have done so not having fully known the impact of our actions.
In the interest of full disclosure, Peter Mork is an alternate commissioner on the Board of Appeals.Also, here is The Sentinel article about the M&C meeting:http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/Victoryhousing
There were many unanswered questions regarding the letter which is why the decision was delayed. Most importantly was the question of whether sending the letter would legally bind the city to making a financial contribution to the project later and whether the city would gain or lose leverage over the project if it sent the letter now vs later.
The Gazette also covered that meeting.http://www.gazette.net/stories/02032010/rocknew224617_32560.php