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The following are the rough, working notes from the first breakout session convened at the connecting places in the Broadway-Fillmore District of Buffalo meeting held at the Central Terminal on October 3, 2009. Several topics were discussed, each with their own
notes.
Issue #1: “Successful Re-entry”
Convener: Antwon D.
Summary of Discussion:
- Communication
- Plan
- Help those who come back as good neighbors.
- Help businesses who would do this: politics
- Need help – accountant/lawyer
- Promotion re-entry incentive
- Successful re-entry statistics
- Child molesters
- Make them resources
- Programs to help the comeback
- Occupations in area that need help
Issue(s) #2:”Improving the relationship between the police & the community/Crime & drugs”
Convener(s): Bill C. and Ken K.
Summary of Discussion:
- Police care – know neighborhood, make contact with police, have a “war” on love.
- Abandon Buildings – COB do something
- Drugs & crime
- Absent landlords
Issue #3:”Homeless/Squatters”
Convener(s): Joyelle and Karen
Summary of Discussion:
- Hope Center – help homeless and support network
- Violence against homeless population
- Abandoned buildings – homeless moving in
- Rehab old house/owner occupied
- Helping people
- Volunteers
- Organize
- Jobs in the community
- Money needed
- How do home/business owners find out about $$$
- Council members should be here to help
- Many people want money; help needed to write grant requests
- Strategic planning needs to take a broader look
- Neighborhood needs one large voice
- New generation must be included/involved
- Education
- Have a solution
- Work together
The following are the rough, working notes from one of the breakout sessions convened at an open forum for block clubs and other neighborhood-level leaders to work on improving the quality of life in Buffalo. See also the invitation and forum report.
Issue: Housing Rehab and Bad Housing
Convener(s): Matt Fisher
Participants: Theodore Bynes, Doris Corley, Joy McDuffin, Joseph Bologna, Matt Fisher, John Fell, Margaret Alfonso, Leslie Vishwarth
Summary of Discussion:
HOUSING REHAB
• Inspector response time – faster.
• Community involvement w/finding.
• Movement on sheriff sales for court fines/liens.
• Pursue existing legislation for distressed prop acquisitioned by City and quick turnaround.
• $16.5 million housing money to homeless prevention.
• Sweat equity for money.
• Use summer youth program to fix homes.
• More neighborhood resources money for rehabs and roofs.
• Job training/job creation programs to fix homes.
• Approach local legislation to take action.
• Priorite rehabs/target fines.
• Use GIS to determine inventory and demo prob home
• Less restriction for CHDOs.
• Treat owners and landlords differently.
• Homeownership training and maintenance training.
• Bring players together, council people, residents, neighbors, group, inspectors, and police for monthly meetings.
• More Grants for homeowners to fix houses
• Draw best practices of other Cities.
-Rochester – rehabs
-Philadelphia – vacant lots
-Bronx
-More CDBG money making it to the streets
BAD HOUSING
1. Absent owner/investment and more rehabs
2. Owner occupied – more Grants
Ideas:
• Approach local Legislators to take action.
• Prioritize rehabs by block vitality, prospects for a vital future.
• Geographic info systems to determine existing inventory (property info system), then determine condition.
• Long term resident retention.
• School improvement to draw young families.
• Acquisition – broader reach/less restrictions on which properties qualify.
• More money into neighborhoods.
• Neighbor works
• Inspector response time
• Community involvement with seed money.
• Habitat for Humanity.
• More pass through of Community Block Club money to grants/rehabs.
• Movement on sheriff sales.
• Pursuing existing legislation for distressed prop. acquisition by City w/quick turnaround
• $16.5 million housing money to homeless prevention.
• Sweat equity for money.
• Summer youth program workers (building trade apprenticeships.
• Homeownership training (i.e. “Buyers Club”, training on maintaining) and follow-up.
• Key player collaboration meetings monthly established system wide thru City (inspectors, Police, Councilmember, citizen’s concerned w/housing.
• Prioritizing housing needs to those responsible w/follow-up, accountability.
• Linking/networking between high/low income workers.
• Draw on “Best Practices” models from around the Country.
The following are the rough, working notes from one of the breakout sessions convened at an open forum for block clubs and other neighborhood-level leaders to work on improving the quality of life in Buffalo. See also the invitation and forum report.
Issues: Demolitions, empty lots, vacant housing and dumping in parks and vacant lots
Issues: (*Boarded Houses*), Empty lots, (*Demolitions*), Tires very bad and beautification. Old garage filled with garbage, no gutters, and water leaks into my basement when it rain. Need to be torn down. 350 Humboldt Avenue
Participants: Ray Walter, Theodore Bynes, Geraldine Minter and Sr. Mary Augusta Kaeser
Summary of Discussion:
• Board up houses, time frame for boarded up houses.
• Dumping in public park (vacant lots) – motion lights/cameras so public can Id
• Time frame for picking up tires; city pick up tires on regular times.
• Absent Landlords – Regulations and follow up demolition – what plans City has for them – propriety of City – reinforce fence
• Demolitions – are there other options available? Are there plans for the lot after the demo?
• Dumping of tires: The City should better publicize where citizens can take their tires.
The following are the rough, working notes from one of the breakout sessions convened at an open forum for block clubs and other neighborhood-level leaders to work on improving the quality of life in Buffalo. See also the invitation and forum report.
Issues: Vacant Houses and Lack of Money to Address… Including lack of improvement access money for more businesses, more financial support and money for home owners, eyesores business’s, who own these buildings? (Capital Improvements) side walk, pot holes, trees, etc.
Convener(s): Verline McLaughlin, Shirley Monroe, Erma Brown, Lisa Jo Schaeffer, Jackie Eckert, James C Clemons, Eugenia Poole and Christie
Participants: Good Neighbors Planning Alliance (GNPA), Tonawanda, NY
Summary of Discussion:
Part I – VACANT BUILDINGS/LOTS:
• Vacant building/Lots who owns these building/lots?
• Make accountable those who own those buildings/lots (City Wide Home Steading Policy) as to demolition, etc.
• Find tenants for vacant buildings (City Wide Home Steading Policy).
• Support and start businesses in these areas where vacant buildings exist.
• More financial support and moneys for home owners.
• Transparency for where money is going and how to access money (more equitable!!!)
• Capital improvements (Broken sidewalks, potholes, curves, signs, etc.).
• Incentives for businesses that already exist, and are kept up in the City.
• Stimulus money!!! How it does and can affect us and our community?
Part II – GPNA Planning Alliance
Lots – Beautification
Matching Grants – Formerit
Supporter Flower pots, lights, etc.
The following are the notes from one of the breakout sessions convened at last week’s open forum on the future of housing and neighborhoods in Buffalo.
Issue: Innovative ways that have worked elsewhere to turn the vacant housing problem into an asset
Convener(s): Marti Gorman
Participants: Joined the discussion: started with five people, combined with another group and grew to eight during the first session and to 10 during the second session including Gregory Boles, Elena Cala Buscarino, Karen Stanley Fleming, Marti Gorman and others – Kensington area resident, GIS/urban planner, former Philadelphia resident. Carla Kosmerl joined the second session.
Summary of discussion:
What is done elsewhere to turn the problem of vacant/abandoned houses/lots into an asset:
- In Philadelphia, lots that become vacant due to demolition are reclaimed by neighborhoods by fencing, and planting flowers and trees. As few as three trees can turn a vacant lot into a pocket park.
- Vacant lots could become Christmas Tree farms. The neighborhood would reap the rewards when the trees are sold 5 or 6 years post-planting.
- Entire blocks could be cleared by inviting the last remaining residents to move to better housing elsewhere, and the blocks could be cordoned off. The utilities could be cut off and services ended. Ultimately, a golf course could be put in.
- Rather than a golf course, patio homes and nice apartment housing for empty-nesters who no longer want to own a house should be built. Healthy rents would be paid by those who no longer wish to own.
- A vacant lot in the Kensington area owned by the City is in disrepair – crumbling asphalt and weeds. Parking is needed for a youth football program that is using a nearby space for practice and games. Suggestion: to pave the City lot to create off street parking for the neighborhood and recreation uses, making good use of what is now an unsightly lot.
- A complete housing inventory of the city is desperately needed. This should be a GIS map overlay. This will require feet on the ground – it cannot be done sitting in front of a computer. The status/state of each and every structure is needed.
- There is a shortage of contractors that the City is able to use. Perhaps City requirements for contractor certification should be relaxed to free up this work bottleneck. Contractors from other areas should also be encouraged to move their businesses and expertise to Buffalo where there is plenty of work/jobs to be had.
Issue: What changes in City policy or procedures are needed to facilitate citizens owning, rehabbing and living in vacant/abandoned houses to build community?
Convener(s): Marti Gorman
Participants: Joined the discussion: started with five people, combined with another group and grew to eight during the first session and to 10 during the second session including Gregory Boles, Elena Cala Buscarino, Karen Stanley Fleming, Marti Gorman and others – Kensington area resident, GIS/urban planner, former Philadelphia resident. Carla Kosmerl joined the second session.
Summary of discussion:
City should adopt policies that encourage the deconstruction of houses and reuse of materials rather than demolish them. Buffalo Reuse is a good example of what this looks like.
- Since HUD rehabs must comply with extensive federal regulations, they are too expensive to be viable, making demolition look like the better alternative. However, private citizens/corps can rehab houses just as well for much less. A good example of this is ICE (Investors Committed to Excellence – Gregory Boles / 800-920-6796). City policy should encourage private rehabs like this by reducing the price of abandoned houses as much as possible ($1.00 where permitted) to allow these individuals and groups to spend their money on rehab costs. Changes in federal law might be necessary to fully accomplish this. The City will recoup the revenue lost on the sale via property taxes and saving on avoided demo costs. Moreover, the ICE-style rehab builds community as well as a house as evidenced by the recent Open House which 70 people attended and the training provided for local youth in rehab skills. There should be policies that encourage these types of initiatives that build community AND houses, and procedures that facilitate them and ensure that all code is followed and best practices are employed.
- City policy should be to restrict new build to mixed housing and gutting/rehabbing viable existing housing to modernize per market demand. It is the private sector’s job to build new single family homes. Sycamore Village is an example of a poor use of public funds, as it merely emptied one neighborhood – potentially creating abandoned houses and threatening community – to fill new builds in another.
- SmartCode, or some rational plan, is needed to dictate what type of housing is needed/acceptable where.
- The Mayor’s Hotline is not responding to complaints of uncut weeds (safety and esthetic issues) on private property in Kensington area, and to questions re responsibility for maintaining RR trestle. Carla Kosmerl committed to look into the situation and respond personally.
- Properties are falling through the cracks –
- no one accepts responsibility for upkeep by absentee owners,
- in the wake of foreclosures and
- the City lacks the capacity to maintain its own properties.
- The City should provide neighborhoods with incentives to maintain these properties themselves. It must also:
- enforce existing regulations on privately owned properties
- develop the capacity to somehow maintain properties it owns and
- develop regulations that legally assign responsibility for properties that were foreclosed before the new law that makes banks responsible comes into effect.
- These actions will help prevent unnecessary “demolition by neglect.”
The following are the notes from one of the breakout sessions convened at last week’s open forum on the future of housing and neighborhoods in Buffalo.
Issue: Wise use of vacant structures
Convener(s): Kevin Hayes
Participants: Anthony Armstrong, Harvey Garrett, Rob Gilray, Andres Scott, Hamza Abdulla
Summary of discussion:
- Deconstruct and harvest usable materials
- Mothballing – near east side and Hamlin Park
- “Buy time”
- Strategy – targeted block by block
- Reduce rehab costs
- Homesteading
- Non-governmental ownership
- Relocating houses