Politics & Government

CBA Demands Intensify At Contentious Olive Development Meeting

"Is it possible to cancel Mayflower," one woman asked, adding: "I want to stay in my house."

J. Ryne Danielson's profile picture
J. Ryne Danielson, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge
|

UNIVERSITY CITY, MO — A neighborhood meeting in University City to discuss a proposed $200 million development on Olive Boulevard at Interstate 170 wasn't supposed to go the way it did.

"The purpose of tonight's meeting is much more about how the proceeds from phase 1 of the Olive and 170 development can be used to benefit the homeowners and residents of the third ward," said University City Mayor Terry Crow, before opening the meeting Wednesday night. "Tonight's conversation is really not about the pros or the cons of what is happening at Olive and 170."

Residents seemed to have other ideas, with many calling for a Community Benefits Agreement or asking pointed questions the city didn't seem to have answers to.

Find out what's happening in University Cityfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

"Is it possible to cancel Mayflower," one woman asked, for example, adding: "I want to stay in my house."

"I can't address that," Councilmember Bwayne Smotherson responded, suggesting she talk to the developer.

Find out what's happening in University Cityfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The meeting was hosted by Mayor Crow and Councilmembers Smotherson and Stacy Clay and facilitated by city manager Gregory Rose. Councilmembers Paulette Carr and Jeff Hales and Novus President Jonathan Browne were also present, though they didn't participate.

Third ward resident Sonya Pointer was the first community member to speak. She raised concerns about gentrification and rising property taxes.

(Want more stories like this? Subscribe to your local Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. You can also download the free Patch app for iPhone and Android.)

"The TIF project is supposed to increase property values. So, if it's going to increase property values, then it's also going to increase property taxes," Pointer said. "And I've been asking for answers to how you all are going to address that for people who cannot afford to pay those things. I have not received any response. I'm still waiting on that answer. I know there are a lot of people who are also waiting on that answer."

Rose initially sidestepped the question — saying its unknown whether property taxes would go up or how fast — before Pointer interrupted to reiterate her initial question: What plan does the city have to mitigate rising property taxes for residents on fixed incomes?

"We have seen this happen time and time again in other communities," Pointer said. "Gentrification, displacing people, pricing them out of their neighborhoods."

The mayor chastised Pointer for interrupting (the meeting was billed as an open discussion), but Rose nonetheless answered her question: The city has no plan.

"...What assistance are we going to provide for residents that are unable to pay? And I will share with you again: We don't know," Rose said. "We don't know that there will be residents that will be unable to pay. So, that's a huge assumption that I'm just not willing to make."

Pointer and others said they were uncomfortable with so much uncertainty surrounding the project, and many demanded the city and developer make their promises in writing in the form of a legally-binding Community Benefits Agreement or CBA.

Indeed, the city's promises already seem to be shifting.

"At one of the previous meetings I had attended, one of the presenters had talked about the individual homeowners would be, I'll use my word, 'eligible for benefits.' And I was wondering if you could give us a little bit more detail," one resident said. "You know, am I going to be able to get a grant or a loan or whatever to have my house painted or to have new landscaping done or a fence put in?"

"No," said acting community development director Rosalind Williams, seeming to contradict earlier statements. "Since we have like 5,000 units in the third ward, we will probably have some home improvement kinds of things, but we have to make sure that the funds are used tactfully so that with that expenditure we get an awful lot of benefit for everyone. And so it may not be just the home improvement program, but it may be an incentive to rehab your house if you buy into the third ward. Or it may be used to buy out some of those landlords who are not investing in the community so that we can turn that over to home-ownership."

"But, we're also here to find out what are the things you'd like to see that we can undertake," Williams added.

Later in the meeting, when one resident proposed an affordable housing project be included in the development, the city seemed to dismiss the idea out of hand. "This predominantly isn't a housing project," the city manager said.

Rev. Mike Angell, rector of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion on Delmar Boulevard, added his voice to calls for a CBA.

"We find ourselves at a time where the clergy have not been able to decide whether we're for or against this TIF," he said. "It's complicated. There seem to be so many actors. And it's divisive. And part of what we're seeing in our own congregations is it seems like we have a crisis of trust going on. People don't trust this process. They're worried about the city. They're not hearing promises about what's going to come."

Angell said he moved to University City three years ago from Washington, D.C., where tax increment financing is common. "As a clergy leader active there, we found that a Community Benefits Agreement became a really useful tool. Because in a Community Benefits Agreement, if a TIF happened, it meant the community had a seat at the table, housing groups and clergy groups, and there was a board that had a role in oversight.

"If it's just the developer and the city — we watched this happen in Washington, D.C. — it got nasty at one point around one of the TIFs. The city councilpeople were trying to enforce some of the promises that the developer made, and the developer started investing in the people running against them for city council. In a Community Benefits Agreement, you've got an exterior group watching over this."

Angell continued: "A number of clergy members, including all of the Catholic clergy in University City, have come together to say we think it is morally necessary, if the TIF goes forward, that we have a Community Benefits Agreement, so that it's really clear what the benefits the community will get are."

He presented city officials with a letter to that effect.

Angell also said he wants to see promises for affordable housing and hiring from within U. City included in such an agreement, and asked if the city was considering a CBA.

The city manager rejected the need for a CBA, but stopped short of saying he opposed the idea when asked explicitly. "I think at this point it's difficult to come out for or against the community benefits agreement because it hasn't really been defined," Rose said.

But, the blame for that lack of definition falls largely on the city. Community groups have been clamoring for a CBA for months now. One legal adviser to those groups told Patch the city manager denied her a meeting, instead suggesting Wednesday night's forum was the appropriate place to have the discussion about a CBA. That wasn't the case.

"I don't want us to focus so much on whether the TIF is good or bad," Rose said. "There's another venue for that. What should we include in a redevelopment agreement or CBA? There's going to be another venue for that. This meeting is about, if the project advances, what should we do with the $10 million that we would receive."

He further said that if residents don't like the way the development is being administered, they can vote for a new city council, and if they don't like the development, they can choose not to shop there.

"With a CBA, there's no elected official," Rose said. "There's no one that you hold accountable."

Patricia Washington, who is spearheading the push for a CBA, called that "fearmongering." She's holding her own meeting to discuss a Community Benefits Agreement at City of Life Church (8333 Fullerton Avenue) August 16 at 7 p.m.

"For almost two years, the city has been negotiating with a developer and the school district on this project, and it is August 8, 2018, and you are just now having a conversation about how this truly benefits the third ward," Washington said.

She has met twice with Novus President Jonathan Browne to discuss benefits she would like to see included in a CBA, such as a commitment to hire chronically unemployed third-ward residents and down payment assistance for renters who would like to buy a home.

"He understands that we need to be doing more," Washington said of Browne, "but understanding and making it happen are two different things. This is a 25-year project. Who knows whether any of these people sitting at the table or any of us in this room will be here in 25 years, but that paper will last."

Another neighborhood meeting is scheduled for August 17 at 6 p.m., also at the Heman Park Community Center. The next public hearing will be held August 23 at 6 p.m. at the University City High School.

Lede photo: City Manager Gregory Rose speaks at a neighborhood meeting in the city's third ward Wednesday night. Photo 1: Mayor Terry Crow lowers his head during one of several contentious exchanges. Photo 2: Rev. Mike Angell adds his voice to calls for a Community Benefits Agreement, calling it "morally necessary" before the TIF goes forward. (J. Ryne Danielson/Patch)

A map of the proposed development:

Catch up before the next public hearing by reading Patch's previous reporting below:

    Read other coverage here:

    Public documents can be found here:

    Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

    More from University City