US Customs and Border Protection Ajo Housing Development ... - GSA

oPP011unity there is to tighten not loosen the possible community ties among agents and residents,
each ofwhich desires an air-tight bordel·.
2) Ajo has a very high rate of unemployment (16% last month)-local jobs matter. By bringing
modular houses to Ajo, GSA is promoting jobs elsewhere. Our local community would benefit
from a housing development project built by local qualified contractors who would provide local
jobs during construction. ISOA is a local nonprofit developer. When we created 30 award-winning
apartments in the Curley School (a $9.6 M project), our contractor was able to hire 29 people from
Ajo on the project. Moreover, the multiplier on rehabilitated as well as infill housing development
far surpasses new construction in the form of a planned unit development.
3) The project as proposed is adjacent to the Ajo Townsite Historic District, almost directly
behind the historic Curley School Campus. Our District is listed 011 the National Register of
Historic Places at the national level ofsignificance, with many ofour buildings such as the Curley
School also listed individually. In this particular location, design matters acutely. With the
completion of the restoration of the historic district, modular homes as GSA is proposing would be
completely out ofsync with the surrounding district. This undermines our local economic
recovery trajectory that is based 011 eeo-tourism. Moreover, the introduction ofunits responsive to
agent demand today stands to become a blight on om market in the future. We are very concerned
that the design ofthese units (whether modular or stick-built) fit in our rural southwest setting and
that they complement the urban design framework of Ajo's historic district.
4) The proposed project is very far along, yet there has been little community process. There have
been quite a few letters from community residents and fi'om our representatives at the County and
Federal level raising a number ofconcerns. None ofthe letters have been supportive ofthe
proposed project. Zero. GSA has not provided substantive responses to these concerns-growing
the local perception that GSA is steallU'olling this project through with little regard for the local
community, for the local economy, or for the environment
All ofthis seems a needless clash. There is legitimate demand for new housing in Ajo suitable for
agent requirements. There is legitimate opportunity to meet this demand through a variety of
creative ways, none necessarily more time-consuming or costly. In fact, demand for new housing
appropriate for CBP agents and their families could be planned, sited, designed, constructed, and
managed in ways that are mutually beneficial, strengthening the local economy, protecting the
environment, and generating a substantial win-win opportunity for the community and the agents
as we all take pride in coming together.
Though our own organization, ISDA, is well versed in all of these processes-from planning and
design to market analysis-we need not be involved per se. We are not writing to seek our
organizational pm1icipation in any part of this process, though we would be delighted to pal1ner in
any way.
What we are pressing for is a project that is mutually beneficial in the short and long term to
Border Protection and the Ajo community, environment) and economy. What we are pressing for
is a partnership from GSA and fi'om CBP with the Ajo community, not what we presently have,
which is a relationship defined by growing and needless antagonism.
(SDA - working to preserve and enrich the environment, culture. and economy of the Sonoran Desert
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