Last week, Battle Ground City Council rejected a plan to build 95 affordable housing units citing concerns over property tax exemptions.
Tirus “T.J.” Fontenette, the managing principal of private development company Principal Properties LLC, proposed a plan in partnership with Vancouver Housing Authority (VHS), an organization focused on providing affordable housing, before council. The Eaton Park apartment complex would provide 95 housing units for residents making 80% of the average income in Battle Ground. Under the plan provided to the City Council, Eaton Park would not have to pay the city property tax.
“Our goal in partnering with [Principal Properties] is to get more affordable housing near amenities,” VHA Chief Real Estate Officer Victor Caesar told the Council.
Caesar mentioned the proposed apartment complex, located southwest of the currently existing Alder Pointe complex, would be close to the commercial park featuring the city’s Walmart, which Principal Properties also developed.
Councilor Shane Bowman said that public perception may be against the development, due to its proximity, citing concerns shared by locals regarding the currently-existing Alder Pointe Apartments neighboring Walmart.
“They say everybody steals from the apartments,” Bowman said. “I don’t buy that. I don’t think they steal because they live in apartments … but that’s the perception that people have.”
When a plan for Eaton Park was presented to the council in October, members expressed concerns about tax exemptions not contributing to the fire district’s levy and rejected the proposal. Although Eaton Park would be tax exempt, Fontenette told the council last week that the fire district’s levy would be paid in full, according to the apartment’s property value. Mayor Troy McCoy said he still had concerns regarding the proposal.
“We’re making the fire department [funding] whole, but if there’s absolutely no city taxes, we’re not making police [funding] whole,” McCoy said.
In an Aug. 7 vote last year, the City Council approved a tax exemption contract with Deacon Development to construct 220 housing units, 23 of which are to be built for residents making 80 percent of Clark County’s median income. In October, the council denied an eight-year tax exemption for both Eaton Park and Remy Heights, a proposed apartment complex directly north of Eaton Park Principal Properties is looking to develop. Remy Heights is in the early planning stages by Principal Properties LLC. Fontenette told the council that more planning would need to be done before knowing if Remy Heights will follow a similar model to the Eaton Park proposal.
Councilor Adrian Cortes spoke in support of the proposed development. He asked the council to consider the increased utility and sales taxes from commercial spending new tenants would bring.
“We’ve known for many years now that our property tax revenue is actually decreasing and our sales tax revenue is increasing, in terms of increments generated by the city,” Cortes said.
After a motion to approve VHA’s collaboration with Principal Properties failed, Cortes said, “I respect the people that voted no, but I’m astounded that, on one hand, we beg for affordable housing, but then, when we’re given the chance to do it by a developer that has invested so much in our community, we kill it time and time again.”
Fontenette told The Reflector he was disappointed by the council’s decision. The Eaton Park and Remy Heights projects have been in development for 24 months, he said.
“We’ll keep working [on] our project. We’re not going to give up,” Fontenette said. “We’ll find some ways that it makes sense to move forward. We look forward to working with the community as much as possible.”
