Residents and community leaders representing the Northwest Side’s Lathrop Homes public housing development blasted the city for not including their ideas in three redevelopment scenarios presented at two open houses earlier this month.
“CHA [Chicago Housing Authority] has not responded to anything we’ve requested- their vision is very different from ours,” said Robert Davidson, president of the Lathrop Local Advisory Council, a board elected by Lathrop residents to represent them.
A CHA spokesman said community members’ opinions were not “monolithic” and that the agency was getting input from many different sources.
“People have different opinions about what they’d like to see,” said James Isaacs, director for the Office of Development Management at the Chicago Housing Authority. The agency’s job, he said, was to get feedback on the scenarios and develop a community based on the priorities of residents, stakeholders and the surrounding community.
The Chicago Housing Authority contracted the Lathrop Community Partners in 2010 to develop plans for revitalizing the Lathrop community. Since November 2011, the developers have conducted interviews with stakeholders and residents and consulted “national best practices for planning” according to a CHA press release.
“This was not an easy task,” said Kerry Dickson, one of the Lathrop developers.
The three scenarios, which would expand Lathrop from 925 units to 1600 units, were presented Thursday, Nov. 15, and Saturday, Nov. 17, at the New Life Community Church north of Lathrop Homes on the 2900 block of North Damen Avenue. Lathrop residents and area citizens were invited to leave comments and fill out a 9-question survey about each scenario.
In recent years, CHA has said it follows a model that breaks up new or rehabbed developments by thirds: one-third public housing, one-third affordable housing, and one-third market-rate housing. Under the new scenarios presented, Lathrop Homes would have 50 percent market-rate housing, 25 percent public housing and 25 percent affordable housing. CHA has been adjusting their model to create an environment to draw in businesses that will provide jobs and basic amenities to the area, said Isaacs.
The three scenarios have different themes but all include energy-efficient buildings, open space for socializing, retail, increased parking and more walkways to better connect the different buildings. Two of the scenarios include high rises among other types of housing. The third scenario features a park with no building higher than 8 stories, the current height of the tallest building. The elimination of high rises means a trade-off in the amount of open space, said Isaacs.
Residents’ main concern was the low percentage of public housing units in the new plans.
James Carlisle, a life-long resident at Lathrop Homes said he rejects all three scenarios because 25 percent public housing is not enough.
Raymond Valadez, chief of staff for Ald. Joe Moreno (1st), said that the alderman remains neutral on the three scenarios but stated that the alderman wants to maximize affordable housing. In an email blast, Ald. Moreno had previously rejected all three scenarios.
Another concern was the 28-story public housing high rises that were included in two of the scenarios. The third scenario included a maximum of an eight-story building. The scenarios are “fundamentally flawed” because none of these buildings are in scale with surrounding buildings said John McDermott, director of housing for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association.
Neither CHA nor the developer stated when the next forum would be held.
“We need a broad consensus,” said Dickson, adding that the next meeting may not be for another six months.
In response to the little input community members had on the long-overdue plans for revitalization, Carlisle was frustrated.
“When you’re poor in the city of Chicago, it’s sad because they don’t care,” he said.
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