City investigates 'unacceptable' black mold and raw sewage at affordable senior living community

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- City officials are investigating "unacceptable" conditions at an affordable senior living facility in the Fifth Ward.

On Thursday evening, the first floor of the Lyons Avenue community, Pleasant Hill Village, was flooded with raw sewage.

Tonya Ashley told ABC13 that her mother's apartment was impacted. While picking up her mother, Ashley said she noticed several neighboring units were filled with black mold.

Ashley shared photos of the conditions with ABC13 and Houston City Council on Thursday. She requested that the council help facilitate relocations for impacted residents, including her mother, and asked that they investigate the facility's owner.

The facility is owned by Pleasant Hill Baptist Church's Community Development Corporation, also known as a "CDC." Reverend Harvey Clemons Jr. leads Pleasant Hill's CDC as the church's head.

The property was built in the late 1990s with an affordable housing tax credit.

Ashley said she was concerned Pleasant Hill's CDC had been given an additional $3.4 million in taxpayer dollars in 2018 to make repairs on the building.

"Where is the money going?" she asked the council. She accused Clemons of living a "lavish life" with the money instead of making necessary repairs.

Clemons told ABC13 the accusations are "categorically false." "You can look at my bank account," he added.

Clemons contends that "every dollar" intended for repairs on the site has been spent accordingly.

"Our documentation shows it. Our audits show that we have nothing to hide about how we have spent the dollars that were there. The dollars that were given to us by any particular agency have not been sufficient to cover all of the needs of this property," he said.

Clemons explained that rent at the site is capped. With inflation, he said he has been able to make some repairs, but not as many as necessary.

Clemons said all residents in dangerous conditions were relocated. Many were moved to nearby units on the property.

Veteran Terry Bouldin showed ABC13 what appeared to be black mold inside the apartment he currently lives in. The unit borders empty black mold-infested units undergoing remediation.

Bouldin told ABC13 he had informed property management of the issue several times and requested to move.

"It makes me feel like they don't care about who lives here," he said.

A member of Mayor John Whitmire's Office, the Houston Health Department, Council Member Willie Davis, and his staff visited the site after council Thursday.

Davis does not represent the district but volunteered to visit the site because he is also a pastor and acquainted with Clemons.

When city officials and ABC13 arrived, contractors in HAZMAT gear were already working on the property.

Clemons said he was "excited" city officials and media visited Pleasant Hill Village. He said he has been working to obtain additional funding for the site for the past two years and felt it could expedite the process.

"What happened today is a result of how long it takes to get the finances in place to take care of older properties," he said.

Council Member Tarsha Jackson, representing the Fifth Ward, called the situation "disturbing." She said she was concerned that the city recently gave Pleasant Hill's CDC money for a new affordable housing project, St. Elizabeth's Place.

Jackson also said she was upset that the council, under Mayor Sylvester Turner's administration, signed off on a Municipal Setting Designation, or MSD, for the site, which includes neighboring properties owned by Pleasant Hill CDC.

An MSD prohibits the property's groundwater from being used as potable water. Jackson was the only council member to vote against the MSD.

The MSD was implemented because of industrial contamination at the site, which was built atop a brownfield. The Environmental Protection Agency encourages the remediation of brownfields under strict environmental guidelines. Clemons contends the guidelines have been met. Lone Star Legal Aid, a non-profit group of attorneys, is investigating the matter.

Records show Clemons owes over $1 million in back taxes on a property he owns across the street from Pleasant Hill Village. The city once listed the site among its "seriously delinquent taxpayers."

Clemons told ABC13 he cannot afford to pay the taxes and has worked out a plan with the city to pay them in increments. ABC13 contacted city officials for comment on the matter.

Clemons is a chair for the neighborhood's Tax Income Reinvestment Zone, also known as a TIRZ. In the role, he and other chairs dictate how taxpayer dollars are allocated for improvement projects in the area.

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