Letter to OCD re: Proposed Demolition and Dispotion of Lyman Terrace

Today is the deadline to submit public comments to the Holyoke Office for Community Development regarding the proposed demolition and disposition of Lyman Terrace.

Below you will find a record of the comments that I submitted. Please feel free to share your own letters as comments if you submitted any.

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March 22, 2012

Alicia Zoeller, Deputy Administrator
Office for Community Development
20 Korean Veterans Plaza, Rm. 400
Holyoke, MA 01040-5036

Dear Ms. Zoeller,

Thank you for taking the time to go through and explaining the Environmental Review Record regarding the use of HUD (Housing and Urban Development) funds for the demolition and disposition of the Lyman Terrace Housing Complex located at 122 Lyman St. in Holyoke. Upon further review of the report, I have decided to submit the below comments to the Public Comment Period. They are focused on four areas in particular: historic preservation, land development, tenant notification, and tenant displacement/relocation.

Regarding historic preservation, I understand that the Massachusetts Historic Commission has submitted a letter dated December 28, 2011 stating that it has reviewed the materials submitted by the Holyoke Housing Authority and determined that the demolition of the housing complex is “unlikely to affect significant historic and archaeological resources.” I also understand that our local Holyoke Historic Commission has neglected to submit its own independent statement. However, I would like to argue that Lyman Terrace holds significant historical value based on two of the criteria that the Massachusetts Historic Commission outlines as qualifications for listing on the National Register-“association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history” and “embodiment of distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction.”

First, Lyman Terrace has an association with the history of public housing in the United States as Holyoke’s first public housing project and the nation’s fifth housing project built in 1938. Second, the style of architecture is particular to the housing built by President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration (WPA). Additionally, the 167-unit brick housing complex is constructed out of bricks that were originally from the Lyman Mills tenements built in 1854 that was removed through the “slum clearance” efforts that made way for the Lyman Housing Project. The brick architecture and copper awnings of the housing complex are visual signifiers of our city’s working-class history and architectural heritage that many today are working to preserve with downtown revitalization efforts throughout the city. Finally, I believe that the information provided to the Massachusetts Historic Commission by the Housing Authority is likely to have been biased toward securing HUD funding and may therefore
underemphasize the historical significance of the housing project and/or the present day value of maintaining brick architecture in our urban core.

Regarding land development, the Environmental Review Report states that the demolition of the Lyman Terrace Project in relation to both “Conformance with Comprehensive Plans and Zoning” and “Compatibility and Urban Impact” are listed as “Potentially Beneficial.” While I recognize that the standard HUD Environmental Assessment Checklist has a limited number of impact categories that may not accurately represent the real or future effects of demolition and disposition, to list on the Environmental Review Report that they will only have potentially beneficial impacts on the community is a subjective and lopsided assessment of what could potentially happen after demolition; one could just as easily state that there will be potentially negative impacts on the community. Simply put, it is not an assessment of demolition in and of itself and we just do not know what potential impact demolition and disposition may have as they are both contingent upon the RFP that is adopted in the disposition process. For the Environmental Review to suggest that only potentially beneficial impacts will be associated with the razing of the Lyman Housing Project is an anticipatively sanguine assessment.

Regarding tenant notification, the Environmental Review Report clearly documents the many public meetings the Holyoke Housing Authority has held with the Lyman Terrace residents. However, having spoken with Lyman Terrace residents about the current proposal to demolish and dispose of the property, there seems a degree of confusion among residents about what the Housing Authority is proposing exactly at this point in time. This confusion may be attributed to the degree of continuity between the Housing Authority meetings for their previous HopeVI proposal that was denied and the current proposal for demolition and disposition. Residents tend to report a description of the proposal that conflates the two projects and expect that new affordable and/or public housing units will be built to replace the Lyman Terrace housing complex.

While the Housing Authority may have fulfilled its requirements for holding public meetings, the confusion among residents as to what the current proposal for demolition and disposition entails raises several concerns regarding the substantive quality of those meetings and the communication between the HHA and the Lyman Terrace residents. I understand that the Housing Authority met with residents on March 5, 2012 to rectify some of this confusion, however many concerns remain. First, given the large population of Latino residents, have written materials been presented and oral presentations been conducted consistently in a bilingual format? Second, are materials and information presented in a way that is easy for lay people to understand, or in a manner that may appear overwhelming or indecipherable due to technical language or legalese?

Lastly, given the typically lower socioeconomic status of public housing residents vis-à-vis Housing Authority staff and personnel, what measures are taken to ensure that public meetings are spaces in which discussion and deliberation can take place? In other words, to what degree are Lyman Terrace residents comfortable asking questions and assisted in fully comprehending the implications of the information presented? Is participation in these meetings meaningful in that residents are encouraged to register their opinions and those opinions are seriously taken into account, or are the meetings simply an opportunity for the Housing Authority to report to residents about what is going to happen? The Environmental Review Report documents that the Lyman Terrace Project is in an Environmental Justice neighborhood which corroborates my claims that the residents make up a sensitive minority community whose access to decision-making processes needs to be ensured.

Finally, the Environmental Review Report lists resident displacement/relocation as having a “potentially beneficial” impact which is another contestable, subjective assessment. The outcome of tenant displacement due to demolition is unknown, so it is impossible to say definitively whether demolition and subsequent tenant relocation will have a positive or negative impact on residents. While the Holyoke Housing Authority has included a finalized Relocation Plan in the Environmental Review Report, the 98 percent occupancy of the Housing Authority’s units places the burden of finding, selecting, and securing new homes (through Section 8 Vouchers and replacement housing payments) primarily on the individual displaced residents as opposed to taking more comprehensive measures that would relocate the tenants while keeping the majority of the community intact.

As the Lyman Terrace community is listed as an Environmental Justice community, it is a sensitive, low-income, minority population that very likely relies heavily on neighborhood support networks that have been established over many years of living together in the Lyman Terrace project. Disruptions to those social and economic support networks could prove devastating to individual residents’ ability to secure amenities such as food, transportation, child care, and other social services that are easily accessed either directly through their neighbors’ support or from the familiar locations or agencies located in the neighborhood. I would argue that only a relocation plan that is able to retain the existing neighborhood network attributes should be deemed to have a “potentially beneficial” impact. Otherwise, we should assume that disruptions to those networks should be interpreted as having a potentially adverse impact and should require further study to assess what networks exist in the neighborhood, which would need to be recreated if displacement and relocation take place, and what are the plans and actions that would need to be taken to reestablish disrupted, yet valuable networks.

This concludes the comments that I wish to submit regarding the Environmental Review Report. I commend the Office for Community Development for the thoroughness with which they completed the review; the report’s high level of notifications and materials documentation have assisted me in making directed and pointed arguments. I’d like also to include for the record that the City Council will be considering on March 29, 2012 a Resolution that states its opposition to the demolition on ideological grounds. If it passes, we will be sure to send copies along to the OCD, HHA, and HUD.

Thank you,
Rebecca Lisi

“Supporting Responsible Downtown Economic and Community Development at Lyman Terrace”

During the Public Speak Out period at the February 21 City Council Meeting, five residents discussed their opposition to the demolition and disposition of Lyman Terrace. Following the February 17 notice from the Holyoke Housing Authority stating that the demolition of Lyman Terrace would have "no significant impact on the human environment," they had spent the weekend canvassing Holyoke neighborhoods, talking to residents about their opinions of the demolition, and collected petition signatures opposing the demolition of the site. To date, they have reported having collected 112 signatures.

In advance of last night's city council meeting, these residents contacted me and ask for my support; "Was there any action that the city could take to prevent this from happening?"

Before taking action, there were several things to keep in mind, which I restated at last night's Council meeting:

1. The City has no financial investment in the project; all funds for demolition would come out of the HHA's Operating Budget and from HUD.

2. The City has no formal involvement in the decision-making process regarding demolition. The HHA owns the land outright and can therefore dispose of it as it sees fit and is legally permissible. Therefore, the only option the the City has to express its opposition is with a written letter submitted to the Public Comment Period that is available to all individuals and groups before the March 7 deadline.

3. Residents absolutely deserve better quality living conditions. One of the main arguments that the HHA is making in support of the demolition is that the residents should not have to "live in those conditions; the residents want demolition." However, demolition is just one among several options to improve the quality of life and living conditions of residents in Lyman Terrace. Rehabilitation/renovation alone or coupled with some demolition to make mixed-income or mixed-used units in that area could also be explored.

4. Opposition to the demolition is based strictly on perceived historic value and structural integrity of the buildings. According to the Massachusetts Historic Commission, there are at least two criteria that I believe Lyman Terrace meets that would qualify for listing it on the National Register: a) its association with the history of public housing in the United States, and b) a method of construction that is particular to the Works Progress Era. Additionally, no forensic studies have been presented to identify whether the building have any structural problems.

As such, there were four things that I thought were appropriate and effective actions to take. First, the City Council could adopt a Resolution to formally go on record stating its opposition to the outright demolition of Lyman Terrace based on the perceived historic value and structural integrity of the buildings. Second, we could as a representative body offer a written letter to the public comment period expressing our concerns and opposition to the demolition. Third, that we invite all the parties involved in the proposed demolition and the future of Lyman Terrace to the City Council to discuss what the situation at Lyman Terrace and what are the potential range of options for dealing with the problems there. Finally, we should ask the Holyoke Historic Commission and Massachusetts Historic Commission to investigate whether Lyman Terrace qualifies as a historic site that belongs on the National Register.

I motioned to have the Resolution adopted due to the upcoming March 7 deadline for public comment. Since of regularly schedule March 6 meeting is canceled due to the Presidental Primary Elections on Super Tuesday, this was the only opportunity the council would have to decide to take action as a body before the end of the comment period.

That motion was amended to send to the Redevelopment Committee by Council McGiverin for further discussion. By a show of hands the motion passed.

However, I counted a tie vote: Alexander, Bresnahan, Leahy, McGiverin, Murphy, Tallman, and Vacon voting in favor and Bartley, Ferreira, Jourdain, Lebron-Martinez, Lisi, Soto, and Vega voting against sending to committee (and in favor of adoption that evening), so I asked for clarification which let to a reconsideration of our actions (passed 8-6 with Tallman joining those who initially wanted to adopt).

Finally, on the roll call vote to send to committee the vote was again 8-6 (this time, Ward 1 Councilor Lebron-Martinez joined those who favored sending the order to committee instead of taking action that evening).

Despite having "lost" the vote that I was after, i was very satisfied with awareness-raising efforts of both the Orders that I filed and the citizen involvement and participation demonstrated by the 30 or so Holyoke residents that came down to City Hall to support the issue.

The order will likely come up in Redevelopment Committee after the close of the public comment period on March 7, so I will be submitting written comments as an individual citizen/city councilor. I urge those of you who are following the debate to do the same. Comments can be submitted to:

City of Holyoke Office for Community Development, City Hall Annex Room 400, Holyoke, MA 01040 by first class mail, by fax to 413-322-5611 or email to zoellera@ci.holyoke.ma.us

I am also looking forward to having in the Mayor, the Housing Authority, HUD, Holyoke Office of Community Development, and Holyoke Historic Commission to discuss this order in public. Hopefully, the residents will come and attend and hear, in a more balanced power setting, what the situation with Lyman Terrace currently is and how we can generate a variety of options to improve the area. This is especially important because when I hear that "demotion is what the residents want" I can't help but think that demolition is presented to the residents as the more reasonable and responsible decision because a wider range of options have not been explored.

There was a lot of media generated from last night's event, so I will be updating this post as audio/video/photography links are posted.

Where do I vote in Holyoke on November 8?

Polling Places for each Ward

WARD ONE
Precinct A - Rosary Towers, 24 Bowers St.
Precinct B - Prospect Heights Community Room, 41 Chestnut Street

WARD TWO
Precinct A - Morgan School Gym

Precinct B - Falcetti Towers, 475 Maple Steet

WARD THREE
Precinct A - Elmwood Engine House, South Street

Precinct B - Metcalf School, 2019 Northampton Street

WARD FOUR
Precinct A - St. Paul's Church Parish, 485 Appleton Steet

Precinct B - St. Paul's Church Parish, 485 Appleton Street

WARD FIVE
Precinct A - Lt. Elmer J. McMahon School Gym
Precinct B - Maurice A. Donahue School Gym

WARD SIX
Precinct A - First Lutheran School

Precinct B - First Lutheran School

WARD SEVEN
Precinct A - E. N. White School, 1 Jefferson St
Precinct B - E. N. White School, 1 Jefferson St

Rebecca Lisi: Ideas, Energy, Action!

The Future is Here!

Rebecca Lisi has been building the foundation for a successful future Holyoke on a reinterpretation of its historic industrial past through:

• Responsible Downtown Revitalization
• Building Holyoke’s Reputation as a Leader in the Green Economy
• Creating Local Jobs for Holyoke families
  
• Strengthening Community

Vote LISI on November 8!

RE-ELECT REBECCA LISI
CITY COUNCILOR AT-LARGE