Broadway Commons remains in committee while Lorain Council awaits further information

LORAIN — Lorain City Council will revisit a permanent supportive housing project once it has more information about the discussion the developer is having with the city's police department. Broadway Commons, a proposed 62-unit apartment building slated for East 21st Street and Broadway, would be the first of its kind for chronically homeless individuals in Lorain. It would be the second permanent supportive housing project in Lorain County with EDEN Inc. and CHN Housing Partners spearheading the development under the "housing first" model, lowering barriers to house qualified individuals while connecting them with on-site services. The issue has been in Council's Building and Lands Committee since late June, when Council heard a presentation from staff from EDEN and CHN surrounding initial discussions for the project's preliminary development plan, which was approved by the city's Planning Commission. On Monday that plan was again up for discussion. It is a multi-family residential building in a mixed-use district — and is considered an approved use in the zoning code, Planning/Zoning Administrator Evelisse Atkinson said. But Council's and many residents' concerns were not with whether the building was a conforming use for the zoning code, but whether it would be a tax on the city's police department, or if it would push nearby Fligner's Market out of the city. Kel Fligner, of Fligner's Market, has previously said if the project moves forward, his company will consider relocating the bulk of its operations outside Lorain. Committee Chair Mary Springowski, D-At Large, expressed concerns about the amount of parking proposed for the site — only about 23 spots for 62 units. She said Lorain is limited in transportation and felt there would be a greater need for parking. Mayor Jack Bradley said he and Councilwoman JoAnne Moon, D-5th Ward, volunteered recently at the Valor Home and only counted six cars in the lot. He said he also met with Police Chief Jim McCann to see if Lorain Police could address concerns about the potential for high call rates based on the volume Elyria police have seen at Bridgepoint Commons, a permanent supportive housing project in Elyria. He said Law Director Pat Riley, McCann and the developers have been discussing a memorandum of understanding to make Broadway Commons a permanent substation for Lorain Police and have a uniformed officer there for $50 per hour from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. daily. Adding the substation and uniformed security has increased the project to nearly $20 million, Bradley said. It was about $16 million when first proposed. During a lengthy public comment period, area residents claimed Bradley or the city was benefiting in some way from the development, while Tia Hilton, of Amherst Township, alleged Riley was against affordable housing when referencing Bruce Towers. Bruce Towers was an Oberlin Avenue apartment complex the city sued the owners of over problems with the property, including high crime rates, three murders, and deplorable living conditions. Many of the residents living in the units were Nord Center patients receiving housing subsidies. Riley said he was in support of affordable housing, just not its mismanagement. Laura Boustani, vice president of external affairs for CHN, said providing uniformed security with Lorain Police is something they do not do at any other building, and have never done a substation — but believe Lorain is worth investing in. She said the delay in the project moving forward, coupled with altering plans to allow for the substation, has added about $5 million to the project's cost. Boustani, who is Arab American and spent much of her childhood as a refugee, took issue with several residents' claims that there must be something unseemly about the project. "I have dedicated my life to the work we do at CHN Housing Partners, which is to build homes to give people the dignity of a door they can close and a home they can call their own," she said. She was interrupted by an outburst from the public before continuing to note CHN has been in operation for 42 years and has received a clean audit each of those years. "We have never, never ever given any money to anybody to make legislation happen," Boustani said. "Any suggestion of that is absolute madness and I would not work for an organization that would ever do that." Others, like Stacy Slack, spoke in support of the project and expressed disappointment in the audience's response to the proposal. Rey Carrion, D-6th Ward, said his opinion of the project has changed as more information has come to light. He questioned what Lorain wants to be known for, what its morals are, before comparing the complaints many have to redlining to force housing segregation in the 1930s. He suggested Council look at the project with an open mind. Springowski said she had suggested the former Stoveworks site as an alternative, due to its walkability. The funding CHN and EDEN received from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency is site-specific. The project will stay in the Building and Lands Committee until Council has more information about the memorandum of understanding between the developers and Lorain Police. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.