Gates fights for ‘affordable housing’

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1998 | 12:24 p.m.

With residential developments sprouting up across the valley and new neighborhoods creeping up the mountainside, it's hard to imagine that a housing shortage exists in Clark County.

On Tuesday, County Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates demanded that fellow board members accept and act upon this fact: A recent housing-authority study shows Clark County is short 76,000 units of affordable housing.

Affordable housing refers to single-family homes that are built to be within the budgets of people with moderate incomes.

Gates questioned the commission's commitment to resolving the shortage on Tuesday after some board members were reluctant to consider allowing affordable housing on surplus county property.

The lots, on the southwest corner of Windmill Lane and Bermuda Road, southwest of Gomer Road and Haven Street and northwest of Interstate 15 and Vicki Avenue, were handpicked by the county-assembled Affordable Housing Committee.

Commissioner Lorraine Hunt said the land is far too valuable and should be sold for the highest possible value. Commissioner Myrna Williams suggested that board members wait until the master plan is completed.

"I had to fight to get this task force approved," Gates said. "We have not done anything, not one thing. They are questioning the commitment of this board."

Gates said that when people hear talk of affordable housing, they immediately associate it with public-assistance housing. She said there is a dire need for inexpensive homes for newlyweds, college graduates and young families who don't want to live in apartments.

"This whole notion and label has a negative connotation," Gates said. "I find it so amazing that every time we deal with this, it becomes a tug of war, a fight. It's hard to deal with."

The commission eventually voted to reserve the surplus parcels and look into whether affordable housing is feasible for the land.