MILWAUKEE RIDGE. raukee Ridge Homeowners Association 6901 34" St. Lubbock, TX 79407 (806) 853-7462 February 22, 2011 ‘To Whom It May Concern:, ‘The Milwaukeo Ridge Homeowners Association began in 2003. From the star, we were a unique ‘community in that we were the fist sex-offender free neighborhood in the country. Over the last scveral ‘years, we have worked very hard to protect this status and are proud that we were the firs to take such a ‘bold step in protecting our children, While the system is not perfect in that we cannot legally extend this ‘same protection the areas outside of our neighborhood against such offenders, we strive to do everything, ‘that we can to ensure that our neighbothood stays protected, In addition to this unique level of protection, ‘we are a proud community of homeowners that holds our residents to a higher standard of property care ‘and maintenance to protect our property values through our Homeowners Association. While many of us have our own personal stories of hardship and hard work to bring ourselves up to our current economic status, we all share one common goal of protecting one of our largest investments in our homes and our neighborhood. In addition to the two-hundred plus homes in our growing community, we also own a private park and pool that wo maintain with the private collective funds ofall of our homeowners. This park, which is located atthe center of the neighborhood, isthe heart of our community. It is also located less than a city block away from this proposed “affordable housing” development site. We feel that dovelopment is allowed, our park will become a target for vandalism and ctime, While wo all understand the underlying concept of this type of development and recognize it’s purpose, we do not feel that this i the appropriate location for such a development. We realize that not all residents of an affordable housing development will, by default, be criminals. However we ate also not ignorant to the fact, which is supported by real statistics, that many criminals (especially violent criminals, drug-related criminals, and sex-offenders) tend to come from a lower socio-economic class. While the developer claims that criminal background checks will be ran on all oftheir applicants, we do not feel like this wil stop these types of people from visiting and frequenting this development, Sometimes the people ‘on the lease are not always the only people at the apartments. We feel that in this area, based on the types of newer developments we have seen being built, if nother developer were to build on this land it would ‘be apartments carrying a higher rent rate and would attract young professionals and business persons looking for a nice commuting neighborhood, ‘There is curently no public transportation that runs anywhere close to this area and, with the recent cutbacks in the public transporiation systems in the city, do not believe that any would be extended to the area to accommodate those that might need it in an affordable housing apartment complex. “ While we have seen many “studies” that show that these types of developments do not have a negative impact on the property values ofthe arca, we feel that there would definitely be an impact on our Property values. This impact may not be directly measurable, but there would, tthe least, definitely be a ‘perceptual impact to prospective buyers if this type of apariment complex were located directly adjacent to the neighboritood, ‘We think that we can all agree that affordable housing solutions can and should be made for those iduals and families needing the assistance, we simply do not foe! like this isthe appropriate location for it. The Milwaukee Ridge Homeowners Association is collectively opposed to the proposed development called “The Grove at Elm Park” in Lubbock, Texas. CH 2a. Grant Koertner MRHOA President