Despite protests from residents, more than a dozen homeless people will begin moving into an Oak Cliff apartment high-rise next week.
Seventeen chronically homeless people move into the Cliff Manor Apartments on Fort Worth Avenue just south of Interstate 30 as soon as Sunday.
Outraged residents said the city, the Dallas Housing Authority and the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance have broken their promises to hold off on letting homeless people move in.
"I feel tricked," said Jeff Herrington, a resident of Stevens Park Estates and the co-founder of the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group. "Work with us. We have an agenda as well. We've been working for nine years to bring better retail here, better services. This is a bomb out of the sky that threatens that."
Only one month ago, Councilman David Neumann said a committee would have a "few" months to study the plan before moving forward.
"We're trying to work with them, but it seems like they're shoving it down our throats," said Chris Bradshaw, a homeowner in Stevens Park Village.
Dallas civil rights attorney Michael Daniel threatened to sue anyone trying to delay the move-in of the homeless people, many of who have substance addictions and mental illnesses.
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"I know there's a lot of frustration in a lot of parts of it -- including us here at the city -- of trying to put the pieces together, and I hope we can move forward in a way that's got a number that the community feels good about," Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said.
He said the total number of homeless people who will move in has been decreased from 100 to 50. They'll get mental health and other support services.
"The responsibility should be born citywide, and that citywide implementation should be simultaneous," Herrington said. "We shouldn't be the guinea pig for a program that is not at all proven."
The Dallas Housing Authority did not return calls for comment on Wednesday.
