Confusion About Public Housing Leads to Standing-Room-Only Meeting in Round Top

Talk around Round Top about public housing mustered about half the town to a meeting on the morning after Independence Day, Monday, July 5. About 50 people squeezed inside the old precinct courthouse, near where many of them gathered the day before for the town’s 171st Fourth of July Celebration.

As it turned out, no one is trying to build a public housing project in Round Top. The meeting was instead about whether the City would impose new restrictions on manufactured housing.

At issue was a preliminary report on the amendment and adoption of zoning regulations that the Town of Round Top is trying to finalize. This comes near the end of a years-long effort to bring the Town’s zoning regulations into compliance with State law. A map attached to a draft of the zoning ordinance presented at the meeting on Monday included a zone on the west side of town labeled “HUD” – an acronym for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

That map caused quite a stir. In emails and conversations before the meeting, local landowners worried about a potential public housing project coming to Round Top, which some believed would devalue their property. Some people at the meeting mentioned government programs that offer subsidized rent payments to low income residents.

A former mayor, Barnell Albers, asked at the meeting whether public housing developers could acquire property through eminent domain. One person in the audience asked whether public housing would have to comply with city regulations on minimum lot sizes (which is two acres in areas zoned “residential” in Round Top). Others questioned the affordability of public housing built on expensive land in Round Top.

About 30 minutes into the discussion, town consultant David Stall addressed the audience.

“There is a major piece of confusion happening here,” he said. “We’re talking about HUD code manufactured homes. That’s a structure. What I’m hearing talked about is HUD Section 8, which is public housing, and the housing choice voucher program. That is where a developer creates low income housing where there’s subsidies for the builder and subsidies for the occupants. That is not on the table at all here.”

Stall said the HUD district outlined on the map was a proposal to restrict manufactured homes to a section of town. After Stall cleared the confusion, the meeting went forward with everyone on the same page.

Councilwoman Amy Bone proposed scrapping the HUD district and reverting to the status quo. Round Top currently allows manufactured homes citywide. She explained that the City could not outright ban them.

Bone said an early draft of the proposed zoning ordinance would have banned manufactured housing and multifamily housing in Round Top.

“(The attorney) said no, you are not allowed to exclude those, no matter who you are or how small you are,” Bone said. “That’s against the law.”

“I feel like we ought to leave the HUD district the way it is,” said Councilman Frank Hillbolt said. “So far, it worked just fine.”

Hillbolt said he did not believe anyone would buy expensive property in Round Top only to park an inexpensive manufactured home on it.

At one point in the discussion, someone mentioned a land price of $200,000 an acre – more than the cost of a high-end manufactured home.

“I’ll buy your land right now for $200,000 an acre,” one person in the audience remarked.

Indeed, some tracts land in town are going for three times that amount. A 3.89 acre tract in town is currently listed on HAR. com for $2.4 million – about $617,000 an acre.

Council also made some changes to the town’s special use permits, which are required when property owners offer tents or booth space during events such as the twice-yearly antiques show. The changes require property owners to obtain liability insurance. They also clarified language concerning setup and teardown times. The proposal would require applicants to present proof of a sales tax permit. It also requires property owners to provide two functional toilets per vendor. Food vendors will also be required to get a state-issued food handler’s licence.

The three hour meeting adjourned at 1:16 p.m. Much of the rest of the meeting involved a dispute involving property owners Jeanette Burger and the Council concerning the zoning of property located near the Post Office.

Council will take up the zoning ordinance again at a meeting Monday, July 12.