Tiny homes have generated big discussion recently as the Springfield City Council tries to decide if it should provide financial backing for a resource center that would serve a planned east-side housing development for homeless veterans.
As of press time the proposal by the city to commit $400,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds toward the Be Neighbors tiny homes development had been tabled pending further discussion among the developers, Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory and residents of the ward. The city's funding commitment would pay for a Learning, Technology and Resource Center that would provide support and training for the residents of the development's 18 separate small residences.
Neighbors of the proposed development slated for 2835 Stanton St. appeared at a Sept. 17 City Council meeting to object to the funding plan, saying there are too many unanswered questions about the project.
"We are not getting the answers that we are requesting. It was sold to us that these tiny homes would be permanent homes, that they would be owned by these veterans," said Teresa Haley, a neighborhood association representative and longtime community activist. "But we found out that these tiny homes would receive vouchers from the (Springfield) Housing Authority which would have to be renewed every year. That sounds more like public housing than permanent housing with people owning their homes."
Haley and other neighborhood r
"IHDA wants the organization to put down 10% and then IHDA pays 90%. Be Neighbors needed $400,000 for their match," Cave said. "That's when we decided that we would propose to fund construction of their Learning, Technology and Resource Center."
Frank McNeil, a former Ward 2 alderman who now serves on the city's Economic Development Commission, voted against the proposal during the Sept. 16 hearing.
"The residents in the area are adamantly opposed to it," McNeil said. "Is this going to be a place where homeless individuals begin to drift into the area? While it's 18 single houses, those people have friends and relatives, and how are you going to control that?"
McNeil also said that the Be Neighbors development is planned for an area that already has many social service facilities.
"Not everything should be on the east side of Springfield," McNeil said. "To locate everything on the east side of Springfield is not representative of a city that wants to embrace the situation and really do something about it."
The Economic Development Commission ultimately voted seven to three to forward the $400,000 request for the city-administered federal funds to the City Council with a recommendation for approval. However, the EDC's vote is non-binding, and the request was tabled during a Sept. 17 council meeting after lengthy discussion led by Gregory, the alderman who represents the area in question.
"I met with the community and they are very, very much against this. It was sold to them as one thing, and it's not that," Gregory said. "I have a high respect for Mr. Harvey Hall (the developer). If Mr. Hall can get it together with the neighborhood associations, then I'll bring it out of committee. We cannot put people who need services in a place where there are no services. It's a recipe for disaster."
Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams Jr. agreed with Gregory, and advised his fellow council members to think hard before approving the Be Neighbors request.
"We always talk about respecting the neighborhood associations, but we have yet to respect the east side," Williams said. "We keep finagling and figuring ways to put it over there anyway. There are seven other wards in other parts of town where some of these facilities could go. It's time for you guys to step up."
Mayor Misty Buscher offered to coordinate a meeting among Be Neighbors, interested aldermen and the impacted neighborhood associations, a proposal to which all parties agreed. The council then tabled the funding request, but not before Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath observed, "Everybody knows that a tabling vote is a death penalty for an ordinance."
Be Neighbors Affordable Housing for Veterans, Inc., a nonprofit organization, received IHDA funding in 2021 to develop and operate 18 tiny, 540-square-foot homes with what was billed at the time as a 1,200-square-foot education center in the middle of the community. The Stanton Street property was rezoned for the development later that year. Be Neighbors could still build the entire complex, including the resource center, without further city review if the organization can privately come up with the $400,000 it is seeking through the city council.
Harvey Hall Sr., the president of Be Neighbors and a Springfield resident, is a former U.S. Marine who said he experienced homelessness in the 1980s and can relate to what other veterans are experiencing. He made his case for the funding during a Sept. 3 City Council meeting.
"There are other avenues to get the funding to get this done. We are (asking) the city to be a part of this great project for our veterans," Hall said. "We have already been funded for the houses, and the Springfield Housing Authority has already guaranteed me 18 vouchers for each house. So with the $400,000, you will be saying that we also support our veterans here in Springfield."
Hall garnered chuckles when he boasted that the tiny homes development would rival other noteworthy things in Springfield.
"This is going to be the second-greatest thing in this city next to Abraham Lincoln's Tomb," Hall said. "All over the United States they are going to want to take this model and do this for their veterans."
T. David Parker of Melotte Morse Leonatti Parker, Ltd., is the project architect.
"This project was developed from the vision of Harvey Hall to create an environment where our veterans experiencing homelessness can find a place to stay and heal as needed," Parker said. "The concept is to give each veteran a place of their own and a central services building to remove potential issues related to control of their environment and to remove barriers to getting any help they need from social services by having those on site."
Parker added that the tiny homes proposal has already been reviewed to a very high standard.
"The project has gone through three years of rigorous testing through the IHDA Permanent Supportive Housing program," Parker said. "That program requires demonstration of viability for a 15-year period, including maintenance and upkeep as well as maintaining social services."
East-side neighbors still aren't convinced. As Haley told the City Council, "We are concerned about our safety. There a lot of people, including veterans, with mental health issues," she said. "I have grandchildren who literally catch the school bus across the street from where these tiny homes are supposed to be."
East-side neighbors still aren't convinced. As Haley told the City Council, "We are concerned about our safety. There a lot of people, including veterans, with mental health issues," she said. "I have grandchildren who literally catch the school bus across the street from where these tiny homes are supposed to be."