University of Virginia Library

Black Community Protests Inadequacies

City To Aid Evicted Tenants

By Jay Steer
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Charlottesville's City Council
responded to local resident's
demands for more adequate
housing yesterday afternoon by
appointing a specialist to aid in the
relocating of 13 displaced families.

This action was the result of a
protest by the several Negro
families facing eviction from their
sub-standard dwellings. It was
brought to light at Monday's City
Council meeting attended by over
80 Charlottesville residents.

Short-Term Specialist

The specialist will be hired by
the Council on a short term basis to
find adequate, low-cost housing for
these displaced families. The details
of this action were worked out at a
meeting yesterday afternoon
between representatives of the
Council and representatives from
the displaced families.

The families in question were
evicted from their duplexes on Page
Street by their landlord,
Charlottesville insurance tycoon,
Benton Patterson.

Mr. Patterson was recently
prosecuted by the City of
Charlottesville for failing to meet
the minimum standards set by the
city's housing ordinance for these
four duplexes.

Overturned Conviction

The lower court conviction on
the charge was overturned in
Corporation Court last Friday on
the grounds that letters warning
Patterson to bring his houses up to
the minimum standards did not
follow the housing ordinance's
prescribed procedures.

On January 8, Mr. Patterson
served eviction notice on the 13
families, giving them until March 8
to find other housing.

John Lowe, a Charlottesville
Lawyer and a member of the
Housing Task Force of St. Paul's
church, presented the Council
Monday night with a statement by
the families seeking council help in
finding suitable homes and
suggesting four measures the
Council could take to "help
overcome the present housing crisis
in the city."

Four Proposals

The four proposals were: to
provide a full-time housing
specialist for the city; provide
housing sites at low cost in the
Vinegar Hill development area;
implement minimum wage
standards in the city and influence
the University to improve its wages
and benefits; and have the Council
condemn no presently existing low
cost housing without providing
replacement housing for the
affected residents.

"While these proposals may help
to solve future housing problems if
they are adopted now, they will not
help us, the Page Street families, in
the next 60 days. We are making
efforts to find suitable housing, but
we have been unable to find any so
far," the statement said.

The statement continued to say
that "We hope the city will
continue in its strict enforcement
of the minimum housing standards.
While we and many other families
would like to continue to live
where we are in our present
neighborhoods, we cannot continue
to live under the present slum
conditions.

Councilman Mitchell Van
Yahres commented during the
40-minute discussion Monday night
that "the city has done little
positive about the needs of low cost
housing and the situation has been
building explosively for years."

Apparent Contradiction

Clyde Gouldman, City
Attorney, pointed out to The
Cavalier Daily yesterday that there
exists an apparent contradiction
between two of the proposals
submitted to the Council.

"This group wants strict
enforcement of the housing code,
yet they asked that no one be
evicted from their dwellings. If the
Housing authority strictly enforced
the code, then logically, tenants
would have to be evicted," Mr.
Gouldman said.

Mr. Gouldman also noted
yesterday that plans for low cost
housing in the Vinegar Hill area
were being stalled in court by the
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People on
the grounds that this housing plan
would tend to promote segregation.

Mr. Gouldman said that the
NAACP contends that the housing
project was designed to keep the
Negro residents in a ghetto-type
area. Also, the housing would be
designed primarily for low income,
Negro tenants.

Code Violations

"Another roadblock preventing
the go-ahead," Mr. Gouldman
added, "is that the Department of
Housing and Urban Development
will not provide federal funds to
Charlottesville unless the City
corrects a certain number of
housing code violations. This, of
course, would involve eviction."

The reasons for bringing suit to
Mr. Patterson in this matter
consisted of defects in plumbing,
wiring, weatherproofing in these
four frame duplexes, which are
located not eight blocks from the
University, G.A. Vogt, Mayor of
Charlottesville, said yesterday.

Mr. Patterson estimated that it
would cost $48,000 to bring these
dwellings up to par. The fine levied
against Mr. Patterson, which was
later rescinded was $500, of which
$400 would be deferred if the
housing standards were met.

It was rumored that Mr.
Patterson was anxious to sell these
properties, which he inherited.

Controversy Centers Around These Four Page Street Duplexes

Not Eight Blocks From University, Sub-standard Dwellings Pose Major Problem