Mike Nowatzki
The Forum - 02/15/2007

After losing their battle with the Fargo Planning Commission, opponents of a senior housing project that would shrink their neighborhood park said they plan to talk to a lawyer before the matter reaches the City Commission on Feb. 26.

The Planning Commission capped a 2½-hour public hearing Wednesday by voting unanimously in favor of a zoning change that would allow the Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority to build a 39-unit senior housing complex behind New Horizons Manor, 2525 Broadway.

The Housing Authority owns the land, but it has been treated as part of Friendship Park for more than 30 years.
Deb Nordby, whose home borders the south edge of the park, said she will consult an attorney about whether residents have any rights to the land because its been used as a public park for so long.

More than 100 citizens packed a City Hall me eting room to speak for and against the housing project.

Maureen Splettstaszer said she and her husband wouldnt have moved into their house at the southeast corner of the park in October had they known about the project. I am not against elderly housing. I am against the loss of green space, she said.

Karen Moore, whose parents are retired, spoke in favor of the project, as did New Horizons Manor resident Virginia Hanson, 94.
Someday we will have a plot of grass to sleep in, but now we need it to live in, Hanson said.

Historical records show the Housing Authority always intended to use the land for housing, Fargo Senior Planner Jim Hinderaker said.

Opponents had suggested the Housing Authority swap land with the Fargo Park District to move the housing project to Yunker Farm. But Hinderaker said a 1974 land-use covenant states that the Park District must forever use Yunker Farm for public park and recreational use and for that pu rpose only.

Abandoned restaurant sites along Broadway that also were suggested as alternative sites already are reserved by private developers, he said.

Splettstaszer, who has a 2-year-old daughter, said the housing complex would split the park and obstruct parents views of their children.

A setup like this is an opportune place for a child molester or a child abductor because they have easy road access and they can get a child out of that park in no time, she said.

Project opponent Roger Finch went a step further, referring to a 59-year-old homeless man who recently pleaded guilty to molesting an autistic boy in a St. Paul park. If this housing project goes through, this man could conceivably be living right next to our park, he said.

Fundingsland said the Housing Authority refuses to house sex offenders. Planning Commission Chairman John Q. Paulsen said he didnt follow Finchs rationale.

With all due respect, I have a hard time concluding that age or low-income housing increases the propensity for child molestation, he said.

The senior housing complex would accept residents ages 55 and older with an income range of about $13,650 to $27,300, Fundingsland said.

Fundingsland and other supporters said the site is ideal because of its proximity to the Northport Shopping Center and a clinic, and because of the opportunity to share services with New Horizons Manor.

Because at least 20 percent of the property owners within 300 feet of the site are protesting the zoning request, it will require approval by four of the five city commissioners.

Readers can reach Forum reporter
Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528