Abilene City Council approves multi-family expansion in Pasadena Heights neighborhood
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – The Pasadena Heights neighborhood in east Abilene will soon see the construction of two new roads and eight plots of land zoned for multi-family homes. That project was approved by the city council on Thursday. Established in the 1950s, Pasadena Heights has not seen any large developments in the seven decades since. The land owner and developer, Robin Walls, grew up in the area and told the council his hope is to see the area improved. Still, current residents have made their staunch opposition known.
“The thing I wanna do is improve the area… In 75 years, there’s not been a whole lot of improvement. I’m trying to improve. I wanna help,” Walls told the council.
The plan has changed slightly since it was presented to the Abilene Planning and Zoning Board on June 4th earlier this year. In response to resident concerns about multi-family housing, quadplexes were restricted from being built. The plan now allows only triplex, duplex, or patio-style homes. Walls feels that affordable housing is needed in the area to allow for growth and resident financial stability.
“People make $80,000 dollars a year, but it’s still hard for them to buy a home. I’m dealing with HUD (U.S. Department. of Housing and Urban Development). That’s no secret,” said Walls.
Current Pasadena Heights residents showed up in force to the Planning & Zoning meeting on June 4th to voice their concerns and opposition to the project. The P&Z board approved the project to the council that day.
Resident Curtis Robinson addressed a concern shared by many of his neighbors: lower-income housing might attract an element they do not want to see in their community.
“It’s called stackin’ ’em deep and rentin’ ’em cheap. We know what that brings. It brings that more crime that we can’t control,” Robinson said.
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Melissa Diles conveyed to the P&Z board that she feels renters would not take care of their property since they do not own it. She fears this would lead to decreased property values and a buildup of trash.
“If you look at 418 (address of the home renovated to be rented out). 2023 of January is a brand new home that sold for nearly $215,000. If you go and pull it up right now, it’s not going to even go for $80,000 because there’s no one there to take care of it. If you’re not gonna buy it, you’re not gonna take care of it,” said Diles.
Another resident raised a concern that she feels the city does not take care of the streets as they are now, saying current issues, such as a history of flooding, should be addressed first. The city is currently in the process of a full-scale refurbishment of the Pasadena Heights streets and Nelson Wilson Park.
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Some people, like Bettye Gindratt, did step up to voice support. She does not live in the neighborhood currently but spoke as a former resident, having grown up in Pasadena Heights. Gindratt stated that the neighborhood has not seen any development in part due to the residents historically not welcoming change, citing a development project from the 1980s that was struck down by resident opposition.
“I don’t want to see our community lock itself down and say this is us, and we’re gonna remain the same. There’s room for growth… When we can improve our area and increase our tax base, the city will be more apt to look at doing the things that we need,” Gindratt said.
Also speaking in favor, Rosten Callarman of Habitat for Humanity told the City Council on Thursday that multi-family housing like those proposed in the expansion is needed in Abilene to bridge the gap for future homeowners and add to the tax base.
“This is something that in the development world is called missing middle housing, and it’s something that we desperately need more of for the tax base to generate more revenue,” Callarman said.
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City Council member Blaise Reagan asked city staff whether it is common to see multi-family housing added to neighborhoods that are majority single-family.
“The maximum unit you could have there is a triplex, which is not an apartment. People keep using that term interchangeably… The short answer is, no, that’s not typical, but this is not a typical situation. These plots were platted back in the late 50’s early 60s. They have been passed over for 60+ years… The comprehensive plan recognized they needed to give the developer additional opportunities to provide the right kind of residential product there to offset the cost associated with the development of the property,” City staffer Randy Anderson replied to Reagan.
The City Council approved the development on Thursday, July 11th.
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