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Press Release
Millville to fix, not flatten Holly Berry Court complex
By EDWARD VAN EMBDEN Staff Writer, 856-649-2072
The Press of Atlantic City
January 28, 2009
MILLVILLE - Demolition was the likeliest idea.
Representatives from the Millville Housing Authority thought so. They stood before the Zoning Board this past summer and offered an artist's rendering of the future of Holly Berry Court.
Neighbors of the apartment complex thought so. From their driveways they talked about the trouble the place causes them and their desire to be rid of it.
Even the residents don't disagree.
But with the difficult economy and the resulting absence of available tax credits, the authority Tuesday decided to table its plans to demolish and rebuild the more than 40-year-old complex.
The word now is "preservation."
"We will now begin looking at redevelopment options, determine whether or not we can get a preservation project going through the state," authority Executive Director Paul Dice said.
In August, Dice and the authority received preliminary site plan approval and zoning variances to demolish the complex's 50 units and replace them with 55 new ones, only 15 of which would be used for public housing.
Instead, Dice said, the authority will put together a request for proposals to rehabilitate the facility and make it a more attractive, better place to live.
"We want to ask what it would take to rehab that unit," he said. "What's the impact economically, and what's the impact, more importantly, on the residents there?"
The impact, some residents said, is something they've been waiting for.
Dana Hill walked across the lawn from her street-facing unit at the south Millville apartment complex. The mother of four said she and her family welcomed the prospect of demolition.
"We were all happy about it," she said about learning the unit could be demolished. "We're all the way down here (in south Millville) where there's nothing to do, no place to keep our kids when we work."
For the past eight years, she has lived in a subsidized unit with her children, hoping the complex's demolition eventually would help her get moved closer to the center of town. Then, she said, she wouldn't have to load her children onto public transit every time she had to leave her house.
She has put in housing applications elsewhere, she said, but nothing currently is available for her. The authority helping with relocation would have been the impetus for the move she has wanted for years, she said.
Dice said relocation was another high cost the authority couldn't absorb - along with the absence of tax credits, paying mandatory relocation costs would have been too high.
The approach now, he said, is finding another way.
"We want to hear what the private sector, the public sector, we want to hear what everyone wants to say," Dice said.
The residents said maintaining the property better could go a long way toward making Holly Berry Court a better place to live.
Hill said she has been asking for a new paint job for months, and for exterminators to come take care of the mice in her unit. The authority, she said, doesn't get around to it unless it's pressured.
Saving the complex is fine, as long as work gets done, Lavar McCall said.
It's hard to get maintenance workers to do anything, such as repainting, fixing holes in walls and replacing bedroom doors, he said. Getting rid of some of the criminal element - Holly Berry Court has been compared to 3rd Ward apartment complex Millville Gardens because of its numerous police calls - would go a long way too, he said.
"Things need to be fixed here," said McCall, who has lived at Holly Berry for 12 years. "Get some people out of here, fix up the problems, and we'll be cool."
While major renovations can't happen without adequate financing, Dice said, fixing minor things shouldn't be a problem. Vacant apartments are easier, he said - the entire apartment can be worked on at one time.
Previously, Dice said, the complex was left to rot, but the authority's recent dedication to Holly Berry has brought about a change in culture. "(The complex's units) are habitable right now, and they're in demand right now," he said. "We have to decide what we want to do with it.
"Part of it is focusing on the demographics. If you've got a focus on working families - which you're allowed to have - then so be it."
E-mail Edward Van Embden:
EVEmbden@pressofac.com
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