It was a busy night for the NHUAC on June 2, covering a number of topics pertinent to the future of North Highline and Burien.

Affordable housing in White Center – a heated debate
Derek Birnie, executive director of the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association, presented plans for a new affordable housing project called Pappas Village (named after White Center residents Mary Anne and Gus Pappas who sold the land to DNDA and financed a portion of the sale) located on 1.5 acres southwest of the intersection between S.W. 107th St and 14th Ave S.W.

While Birnie said the project’s vision is still flexible, at this time they are planning for 60 family housing units of various sizes to accommodate large and small families from low to middle-income with six units “set aside as permanent housing for families transitioning from homelessness.” DNDA is working with the White Center Community Development Association (CDA) to develop the vision for Pappas Village and Birnie said they are currently looking for development partners to move forward. If a partner isn’t found, the land may go back on the market.

Birnie’s presentation was met with frustration and concern from the NHUAC on a number of fronts.

First is the issue of communication. Several councilmembers voiced their dismay over not even hearing about Pappas Village until about a month ago (the land was purchased by DNDA in 2007). Councilmember Jessica Stonebeck said she lives just down the road from the proposed site and has never experienced community outreach. Birnie said the CDA is in charge of reaching out for community input.

“It’s kind of disheartening when people from outside this community (come in)… and speak for this community when they don’t live here and they are not going to live with the consequences of what they do in this community,” said NHUAC president Barbara Dobkin. “No one is opposed to affordable housing, no one wants anyone to go without a home ... but the issue is we need economic diversity in this community and we are not getting that.”

Dobkin’s comment leads into NHUAC concerns about the “overloading” of White Center with affordable housing. Simply put, they are concerned that it dampens economic diversity which leads to a flat tax base (and therefore less money coming back into White Center through taxes).

The theory that more affordable housing in an area leads to higher crime rates was also raised.

In a phone interview on June 3, Birnie addressed those concerns with the qualification that he can only speak to affordable housing projects in West Seattle’s Delridge area, where the DNDA has done most of their development to this point.

“DNDA’s strategy and its thought about its property development work in Delridge is that the construction of quality affordable housing in a neighborhood can actually prompt investment by private developers to do quality market-rate housing at the same time by showing that the market is there in the neighborhood, that the neighborhood is ready for that kind of development and that’s been our experience,” he said.

“DNDA can’t take sole credit for that … but it reinforces the point that public investment in quality, well managed affordable housing can help achieve the kind of economic diversity that the (NHUAC) says they want to see in White Center.”

In regards to safety and rising crime rates linked to affordable housing, Birnie disagreed by citing the theory of CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design).

“The thinking there is that the more eyes on the street that you have – the more you activate a space with residents and inhabitants, the more the crime element is going to be intimidated and seek to go elsewhere,” he said.

The 1.5 acres slated for Pappas Village is currently heavily wooded with only a few houses, leading to Birnie’s next point:

“The thinking here is that large vacant pieces of land tend to attract the crime element more than a piece of property that’s been developed and is being inhabited by residents who are consciously part of a community building program and are thinking about addressing crime rather than contributing to it.”

Crime report
King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Rodney Chinnick, who heads the County gang unit, presented crime statistics for White Center and Burien at the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting on May 2. He said residential burglaries and assaults climbed over the past month.

The good news on the burglary front, according to Chinnick, is that significant arrests of serial perpetrators have been made. A continuing problem is that juvenile offenders are often times quickly released and back on the streets trying to get into homes.

Chinnick said the rise in assaults may be linked to the rise in temperature. As the weather gets nicer, people tend to party and drink more alcohol which can lead to altercations, he said.

When asked about funding issues for the KCSO gang unit, Chinnick said all but one of the gang unit officers are funded out of the Sheriff’s budget while the other is paid by federal grants. He said they are uncertain if the grants will be renewed (with the current grants running out soon) and KCSO may be forced to reduce staff if it doesn’t come through. Otherwise, the general budget shortfall means less emphasis patrols and overtime, he said.

A recurring topic of chronic inebriates drinking in public in White Center was also raised, and Chinnick said the problem “is on the radar” for KCSO, initially educating sellers on how to determine if a customer is already drunk and following that up with enforcement of the law (it is illegal to sell alcohol to someone who is clearly intoxicated).

Annexation and libraries
Burien City Manager Mike Martin said the city council is actively discussing the possibility of annexing North Highline and bringing it into the Burien fold. He expects a decision from the council by August and believes annexation will be put to a vote by the end of the year.

Related to annexation, Martin said Mayor Joan McGilton has asked the King County Library Board to delay making a decision on closing down White Center and Boulevard Park libraries until the issue of annexation becomes clear.

The NHUAC holds meetings on the first Thursday of each month at the North Highline Fire Station, 1243 S.W. 112th St. Meetings are open to the public.