VOL Resident 1995

It is obvious this complex is not proposed to be built near "sugarlandcitizens" home. They don't allow that sort of thing in First Colony or Sweetwater.

This is about a developer getting a $2MM fee, not about helping low income folks. Irresponsible developers and the banks that lend to the (such as Capital One in this case) is what this is about. Take for example the strip retail center built between Voss and W Airport on Hwy 6. It was built more than a year ago. Yesterday afternoon I counted approximately 20 storefronts in the strip. Do you know how many are leased? Three (3) are leased, one is a PostNet mail store, which which competes with a mail center 150 yards down in an older part of the adjacent strip. The other 2 are a Goodwill Donation center and a Texas workforce commission applicaton center. The Noble Roman Pizza joint unfortunately recently closed. Why is this strip generally unleased? Because of bad developement and lax lending. The Goodwill center is not the type of business I expected nearby when I purchased my home in 1995. Now GoldShire wants to put low income housing in my subdivision. Why? probably because the land is cheap, so he will put 150 units on 10 acres. So the density will be say, at least 600 people living on 10 acres. Mr. Sobti why not buy land on Bellaire or Bissonnet, surely there are plenty of tenement apartment blocks that have recently burned down because they dont meet fire code. You will do the folks in that area a greater service by giving them NEW affordable housing in the area that they live, isn't that what this is about?

As I stated before this is not about race, and when posters suggest that it is, they do not know my subdivision or my neighbors of all races who are faithfully paying thier mortgages and want to retain the value in thier homes.

As a long time resident of Village of Oak Lake, which is the subdivision in the midst of which this developer is proposing to put this complex, I have a right, if not an obligation, to oppose it. A few of the relevant facts;

- the developer will make about $2MM off of the deal, other than that, he has no underlying moral purpose of putting it 2 blocks from my home, instead of near his home on the fairway in the Sweetwater Country Club golf course

- the entrance to the 150 unit complex will be on a two lane blacktop road, 100yards from a curve, with ditches on each side, it will be accidents waiting to happen with an estimated 150-200 vehicles entering/exiting

- there is absolutley NO public transportation near here, the closest being Park and Ride lots on the SW Freeway, or the bus lines on Westheimer, 50% of the units will be rented to persons earning <50% of the AMGI (Area Median Gross Income), if they do not own a car they are in the middle of nowhere basically

- the schools near here already using portable units, adding 300-500 kids will not improve that problem

If you are a resident and want to take the time to read the 355 page application it is here; "http://www1.tdhca.state.tx.us/htc/2009apps/index.htm" it is number 09166.

This is not about race, my African American neighbor across the street has been my friend since 1995, I have Columbian and Chinese neighbors. All of us have invested our money in paying the martgage on our loans, we dont want to see our home values decline for the benefit of this developer.