{"id":7610,"date":"2022-06-16T13:29:33","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T13:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=7610"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:59:27","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:59:27","slug":"residents-lambast-fayette-place-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2022\/06\/16\/residents-lambast-fayette-place-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Residents lambast Fayette Place plans"},"content":{"rendered":"
On a Monday evening, Hayti residents, community leaders and city representatives file into the Monument of Faith Church sanctuary. The room bustles with anticipation as attendees exchange greetings and scribble their names and addresses on public comment cards. The subject of the meeting is the Durham Housing Authority\u2019s proposed Fayette Place project in Hayti; the goal, community reconciliation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the housing authority stirred controversy after tapping Durham Community Partners to redevelop the Fayette Place site. The proposal calls for the construction of 774 affordable housing units on Fayette Place, a parcel of vacant land within the historically Black Hayti neighborhood. In 2017, the City of Durham awarded the housing authority a $4.2 million grant to purchase the plot, stipulating that the agency create a community engagement program for the project. However, Hayti residents argue that little has been done to include them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Mayor Elaine O’Neal opens the meeting and introduces City Attorney Kimberly Rehberg and Durham Housing Authority CEO Anthony Scott, who outline the details of the Fayette Place development. Using PowerPoint slides that feature tiny, indiscernible words, Scott explains the project\u2019s timeline, the selection criteria used in scoring proposals, and the RFP (\u201cRequest for Proposal\u201d) process that resulted in the selection of Durham Community Partners. Audience members interrupt Scott often, criticizing his presentation as inaccessible to the visually imp<\/span>aired.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe can\u2019t even see the <\/span>slides! You\u2019<\/span>re\u00a0<\/span>talking, and we\u2019re losing it,\u201d says Lavonia Allison, a longtime Durham activist and former chair of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People. Anthony Scott closes shortly after, and the public comment period opens.<\/p>\n