[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 85 (Friday, June 18, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CLEARWATER NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES TURNS BROWNSFIELDS SITE INTO 
                           AFFORDABLE HOUSING

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                          HON. C.W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 17, 2004

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to my attention a 
creative project by the Clearwater, Florida Neighborhood Housing 
Services which was turned an abandoned and polluted junkyard into an 
affordable housing site.
  This is the type of innovative program that can solve two problems 
for a local community. First, it cleans up an environmentally dangerous 
brownfields site and second it provides a source of much needed 
affordable housing. Through a combined effort between Clearwater 
Neighborhood Housing Services, the city of Clearwater, and the city's 
Economic Development Department, an 11-year-old junkyard is now the 
site of two single-family homes.
  Mr. Speaker, following my remarks, I will include a story from the 
June 15, 2004 edition of The Petersburg Times which provides more 
details about this project with the hope that other cities around the 
country will use it as a model to clean up abandoned properties and 
fulfill the dream of homeownership for some fortunate families.

             [From the St. Petersburg Times, June 15, 2004]

              Vision, Toil Turn `Junkyard' Into New Homes

                           (By Lorri Helfand)

       Clearwater.--A rusted bus was parked on the lot. Scrap 
     wood, tires, auto parts and metal drums were heaped all 
     around. Pesticides, waste oil and hazardous chemicals were 
     stockpiled there, too.
       It was a far cry from the American dream.
       But, over the course of a decade, Clearwater Neighborhood 
     Housing Services, the city and environmental protection 
     agencies cleaned up the junkyard and transformed it into a 
     couple of cozy stucco homes with manicured lawns.
       The houses in the North Greenwood neighborhood are the 
     first single-family homes built on a brownfields site in the 
     city of Clearwater. Brownfields sites are basically abandoned 
     properties where environmental contamination or potential 
     contamination complicate redevelopment efforts.
       ``It was a junkyard. I'm happy we're seeing contamination 
     going out and families coming in,'' said Isay Gulley, 
     president and chief executive of Clearwater Neighborhood 
     Housing Services, as she prepared to tour one of the new 
     homes for the first time.
       Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services is a nonprofit 
     organization that provides housing and economic development 
     services in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties. North 
     and South Greenwood are its two target communities.
       One house has been sold already to a 38-year-old single 
     mother. The woman, who works as a nursing assistant, asked 
     that she not be identified. But she said that it's a blessing 
     to be able to progress this far and have a home.
       A prospective buyer is interested in the other, which will 
     sell for about $139,000, though nothing has been completed, 
     said Jennifer Smethers, home ownership center manager for 
     Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services.
       The buyer will be eligible for up to $30,000 in down 
     payment assistance from the city, which will not require 
     repayment as long as the owner resides in the home, Smethers 
     said. The buyer also will be eligible for an $8,000 low-
     interest loan from Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services.
       The three-bedroom, two-bath house is about 1,300 square 
     feet and has a two-car garage. Beige tile lines the foyer and 
     deep sand-colored carpet covers the floors throughout the 
     home. Like all of the projects Clearwater 
     Neighborhood Housing Services develops, both houses have 
     refrigerators, dishwashers and stoves.
       Neighbor Rhonda Cole, 55, came by to check out the homes, 
     which were showcased as part of National NeighborWorks Week, 
     an event that mobilizes community awareness of the need for 
     affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization efforts. 
     ``I think this is wonderful. I think our neighborhood is 
     finally turning around. It's going to be a place where 
     anybody would want to live,'' she said.
       Problems on the site date back to 1993, when it became a 
     junkyard. The city eventually declared a house and a two-
     story storage building on the lot as unsafe. The home was 
     demolished in 1996. But when demolition began on the storage 
     facility, workers found a mysterious liquid leaking from 
     beneath the garage door. Petroleum, metals, contaminated 
     soils and an underground storage tank with waste oil had to 
     be removed so demolition could continue.
       The city forgave about $38,000 in liens that accumulated 
     with the demolition and efforts to rid the property of 
     hazardous waste on the condition that the owner, Larry 
     Bunting, donate the property to Clearwater Neighborhood 
     Housing Services.
       The city's Economic Development Department, through the 
     City Brownfield program, provided about $150,000 in state 
     brownfields monies for environmental assessment and cleanup 
     of the site.
       Ground was broken on one of the homes last fall. 
     Construction on the second began a few months later. Both 
     were completed by spring.
       Gulley said her nonprofit organization has three goals: 
     housing assistance, economic development and educational 
     opportunities.
       The organization has built about 200 affordable houses for 
     low- and moderate-income families within the city since 1991.
       ``Please know we have accomplished many things but we have 
     a long way to go,'' Gulley told government officials, 
     business leaders and community members at an event last week 
     to showcase the homes.
       Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services is currently 
     planning a small residential subdivision on Tangerine St. and 
     plans to transform a neighborhood bar into a Head Start day 
     care center, ice cream parlor and professional offices, 
     Gulley said.

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