Your assistance and advocacy is really making a difference!
The good news first: after years of promises from the City, on April 12th Council Member Hudson announced that the Adams administration has committed to beginning a comprehensive planning process and rezoning study of the entire Atlantic Avenue corridor in this area. That process will start with a community plan for affordable housing, public transit, open space, schools and safe streets.
Our signatures and voices mattered to secure this commitment. But we’ll need to be even louder in the coming months as the Council Member and the Department of City Planning, together with other city agencies, begin to shape this public process. Let’s make sure this process is inclusive, transparent, and brings in many different voices, especially the residents most impacted by change.
We are planning a public meeting to meet each other and share ideas. If you wish to be regularly alerted to updates, meetings and any news regarding the community planning effort, please fill out this contact form. You can also follow @visionforatlantic on Instagram. Our voices are important!
Now the not-so-good news: to secure this commitment, Council Member Hudson entered into closed-door negotiations with the two developers and approved their projects, which were approved by the full council on April 28th. While the deal does include more income-targeted housing than previous deals in the area, the approvals are disappointing, as it’s a continuation of previous practices that the Council Member herself has vowed to end. We also worry that these approvals could essentially set precedents for height, density, and use for the entire corridor – limiting what the community can do in this upcoming planning process.
Let’s continue to work together to advocate for an open and inclusive planning process and ensure that our collective community voice will determine the outcome.