| (x) Development Sites that are located in a Clear Zone,
any Accident Potential Zone, or within any Noise Contour of 65 decibels
or greater, as reflected in a Joint Land Use Study for any military
Installation, except that if the Development Site is located in a
Noise Contour between 65 and 70 decibels, the Development Site will
not be considered to have an Undesirable Site Feature if the Applicant
has engaged a qualified Third Party to perform a noise assessment
and the Applicant commits to perform sound mitigation in accordance
with HUD standards as if they were directly applicable to the Development;
or
(xi) Any other Site deemed unacceptable, which would
include, without limitation, those with exposure to an environmental
factor that may adversely affect the health and safety of the residents
or render the Site inappropriate for housing use and which cannot
be adequately mitigated. If staff believe that a Site should be deemed
unacceptable under this provision due to information that was not
included in the Application, it will provide the Applicant with written
notice and an opportunity to respond.
(3) Neighborhood Risk Factors.
(A) A Neighborhood Risk Factor will render an application
ineligible unless acceptable mitigation as determined by staff or
the board is undertaken. If the Development Site has any of the characteristics
described in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph, the Applicant must
disclose the presence of such characteristics in the Application submitted
to the Department. For Competitive HTC Applications, should staff
determine that the Development Site has any of the characteristics
described in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph and such characteristics
were not disclosed, the Application shall be terminated by staff.
(B) Requests for pre-determinations of Site eligibility
prior to pre-application or Application submission will not be binding
on full Applications submitted at a later date. For Tax-Exempt Bond
Developments where the Department is the Issuer, the Applicant may
submit the documentation described under subparagraph (E) of this
paragraph at pre-application or for Tax-Exempt Bond Developments utilizing
a local issuer a request for a pre-determination may be submitted
prior to Application submission. An Applicant should understand that
any determination made by staff or the Board at that point in time
regarding Site eligibility based on the documentation presented, is
preliminary in nature. Should additional information related to any
of the Neighborhood Risk Factors become available while the Tax-Exempt
Bond Development or Direct Loan only Application is under review,
or the information by which the original determination was made changes
in a way that could affect eligibility, then such information will
be re-evaluated by staff and staff may issue an Administrative Deficiency.
(C) The presence of any characteristics listed in subparagraph
(D) of this paragraph will prompt staff to perform an assessment of
the Development Site and neighborhood, which may include a site visit.
Mitigation to be considered by staff is identified in subparagraph
(E) of this paragraph. Preservation of affordable units alone does
not present a compelling reason to support a conclusion of eligibility.
(D) The Neighborhood Risk Factors include those noted
in clauses (i) - (iii) of this subparagraph and additional information
as applicable to the neighborhood risk factor(s) disclosed as provided
in subparagraph (E) of this paragraph must be submitted in the Application.
In order to be considered an eligible Site despite the presence of
Neighborhood Risk Factors, an Applicant must demonstrate actions being
taken that would lead staff to conclude that there is a high probability
and reasonable expectation the risk factor will be sufficiently mitigated
or significantly improved prior to placement in service and that the
risk factor demonstrates a positive trend and continued improvement.
Conclusions for such reasonable expectation may need to be affirmed
by an industry professional, as appropriate, and may be dependent
upon the severity of the Neighborhood Risk Factor disclosed.
(i) The Development Site is located within a census
tract that has a poverty rate above 40% for individuals (or 55% for
Developments in regions 11 and 13). Rehabilitation Developments are
exempt from this Neighborhood Risk Factor.
(ii) The Development Site is New Construction or Reconstruction
and is located in a census tract (or for any adjacent census tract
with a boundary less than 500 feet from the proposed Development Site
that is not separated from the Development Site by a natural barrier
such as a river or lake, or an intervening restricted area, such as
a military installation) in an Urban Area and the rate of Part I violent
crime is greater than 18 per 1,000 persons (annually) as reported
on neighborhoodscout.com. Rehabilitation developments are exempt from
this Neighborhood Risk Factor.
(iii) The Development Site is located within the attendance
zone of an elementary school, a middle school or a high school that
had a TEA Accountability Rating of "Not Rated: Senate Bill 1365" for
2022.
(I) In districts with district-wide enrollment or choice
districts an Applicant shall use the rating of the closest elementary,
middle and high school, respectively, which may possibly be attended
by the tenants in determining whether or not disclosure is required.
Schools with an application process for admittance, limited enrollment
or other requirements that may prevent a child from attending will
not be considered as the closest school or the school which attendance
zone contains the site.
(II) School ratings will be determined by the school
number, so that in the case where a new school is formed or named
or consolidated with another school but is considered to have the
same number that rating will be used. A school that has never been
rated by the Texas Education Agency will use the district rating.
(III) If a school is configured to serve grades that
do not align with the Texas Education Agency's conventions for defining
elementary schools (typically grades K-5 or K-6), middle schools (typically
grades 6-8 or 7-8) and high schools (typically grades 9-12), the school
will be considered to have the lower of the ratings of the schools
that would be combined to meet those conventions. In determining the
ratings for all three levels of schools, ratings for all grades K-12
must be included, meaning that two or more schools' ratings may be
combined. Sixth grade centers will be considered as part of the middle
school rating.
(IV) Elderly Developments, Supportive Housing SRO Developments
or Supportive Housing Developments where all Units are Efficiency
Units, and Applications in the USDA Set-Aside for Rehabilitation of
existing properties are exempt and are not required to provide mitigation
for this subparagraph, but are still required to provide rating information
in the Application.
(E) Information regarding mitigation of neighborhood
risk factors should be relevant to the risk factors that are present
in the neighborhood. Mitigation must include documentation of efforts
underway at the time of Application, and should include the measures
described in clauses (i) - (iii) of this subparagraph or such other
mitigation as the Applicant determines appropriate to support a finding
of eligibility. If staff determines that the Development Site cannot
be found eligible and the Applicant appeals that decision to the Board,
the Applicant may not present new information at the Board meeting.
(i) Mitigation for Developments in a census tract that
has a poverty rate that exceeds 40% may include a resolution from
the Governing Body of the appropriate municipality or county containing
the Development, acknowledging the high poverty rate and authorizing
the Development to move forward. If the Development is located in
the ETJ, the resolution would need to come from the county.
(ii) Evidence by the most qualified person that the
data and evidence establish that there is a reasonable basis to proceed
on the belief that the crime data shows, or will show, a favorable
trend such that within the next two years Part I violent crime for
that location is expected to be less than 18 per 1,000 persons or
the data and evidence reveal that the data reported on neighborhoodscout.com
does not accurately reflect the true nature of what is occurring and
what is actually occurring does not rise to the level to cause a concern
to the Board over the level of Part I violent crime for the location.
The data and evidence may be based on violent crime data from the
city's police department or county sheriff's department, as applicable
based on the location of the Development, for the police beat or patrol
area within which the Development Site is located, based on the population
of the police beat or patrol area that yields a crime rate below the
threshold indicated in this section or that would yield a crime rate
below the threshold indicated in this section by the time the Development
is placed into service. The instances of violent crimes within the
police beat or patrol area that encompass the census tract, calculated
based on the population of the census tract, may also be used. The
data must include incidents reported during the entire calendar year
previous to the year of Application. Violent crimes Cont'd... |
