The local branch of the NAACP has asked federal officials to deny the Chattanooga Housing Authority approval to sell a portion of its Maurice Poss Homes site.
The NAACP also passed a resolution calling for the Hamilton County Commission and county Board of Education to buy the land instead.
The Maurice Poss Homes site sits across the street from the Howard School of Academics and Technology and had been mentioned as a possible site for a new track and football stadium, something the NAACP favors.
“We don’t need any more low-income housing built next to a school,” said Joe Rowe, first vice president of the Chattanooga Hamilton County branch of the NAACP. “That’s a recipe for disaster.”
The CHA approved selling the front 10 acres of the 20-acre site to Vernon Place Investments at a special meeting in February. The land, which has been vacant for at least five years, sold for $1 million, but the sale is contingent upon approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said CHA board Chairman Eddie Holmes.