NAACP to Hear About Housing Plans

The chairman of the Huntington Housing Authority will discuss a plan for senior housing at a meeting of the NAACP Thursday.

Darryl Dodson, who succeeded Dee Thompson this month as president of the Huntington NAACP chapter, said other affordable housing options will also be on the agenda at the meeting, which is scheduled for 7 to 10 p.m. at the

In a recent interview, Spencer said the plan for the senior housing site involves building at 1 Lowndes Ave. in Huntington Station. "What we're going to do is take the existing senior building and make it a three-story" from one, he said. "So we'll have two three-story buildings but on different sides of the three-acre site."

He said that the housing would be for "low/moderate income. When we talk about low income, we are talking about  someoone who's retired and receiving Social Security." 

The authority "Does care about the feelings of the community, which is why we have a mission to provide safe housing," he said. And, "as a result of the addition, an extra $100,000 will go to the school district without adding a single person to the school population" because no children will be permitted to live in the buildings, including grandchildren through custodial arrangements.

The Huntington Board of Education sent a letter earlier this month to the Zoning Board of Appeals, expressing its opposition to the plan, citing other struggles than have engulfed Huntington Station over the last year.

Those battles have included the decision by thes school board to close because of fears about crime in the neighborhood and the failed plan to build and create a transit-oriented district.