HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-754Ramirez, Jonathan
From:
Sonia Harvey <soniagutierrezmakes@gmail.com>
Sent:
Monday, August 28, 2023 3:50 PM
To:
Agenda Item Comment
Cc:
Sharon Killian; Bostick, Britin
Subject:
B.1. Historic Black District Preservation - Please Table
Attachments:
Spout Spring Vision & Goals Framework Draft.docx
CAUTION: N: This email originated from outside of the City of Fayetteville. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize
the sender and know the content is safe.
Re: City Council Agenda Session August 29, 2023, Item B.1 HISTORIC BLACK DISTRICT PRESERVATION
(LAND PURCHASE)
Dear City Council,
Please table this item at the September 5, 2023. We are still working on the details. I have attached a document that
is STILL A DRAFT so that you can see the work we have done so far and get the general direction we are heading.
We would like to report back at the first Council meeting in October, which I believe would be October 3.
I appreciate your support and thank you for your valuable time.
Sincerely,
Sonia Harvey
(479) 409-5064
1
Spout Spring Vision & Goals Framework
Visinn-
1. Stop the systemic stealing that has almost completely erased the historic Black community.
2. Generate Black trust, homeownership, and economic development.
3. Provide a vibrant Black community for newcomers to the region and tourism.
4. Focus on ecological sustainability and well-being with the nearby forest and spring.
Key Goals:
1. Revise the zoning imposed in the historic Black community as part of the erasure process. (City)
a. In 1970 the zoning was primarily R-2 Medium Density Residential, and today the zoning is
primarily RMF-24, the city's second highest multi -family zoning density. This is in stark contrast
to the small homes that were and are a prominent part of the historic landscape.
2. Explore options for Black investment in land and commerce. (City/Private/Nonprofit)
3. Galvanize investment block of expatriate African Americans who returned home. (Private/Nonprofit)
4. Design and develop the recovered properties, connect to trail system, parks, and bus routes.
(City/Private/Nonprofit)
a. The decades of underinvestment in public infrastructure and access following city plans that
expressed a clear intention to remove people from their homes and neighborhood and relocate
them to a still less invested part of the city are in contrast with the city's goal of compact,
complete and connected development. Connecting this neighborhood with even the same level
of public infrastructure as surrounding neighborhoods would move further toward achieving
that goal, but must be balanced with retaining existing residents whose longevity in this
neighborhood should not be disrupted just as they are achieving just investment.
5. Design and build Black cultural and commercial corridor; art, science and education galleries, foodways,
music, fishing, outdoor recreation. (Private/Nonprofit)
6. Use the 158-year Black heritage with afro -futurist resonance in the built environment.
(Private/Nonprofit)
7. Reveal the Spout Spring Branch waterway as it was seen and used by the Black community. (City)
a. Stream restoration projects are a critical component of effective stormwater management, and
Spout Spring is no less important, particularly as the area develops and the drainage flows
increase. However, there is a longstanding politicization of this spring branch that must also be
addressed in a project to restore the stream.
8. Access path/street to unmarked graves (East Mountain Cemetery) memorialized by meditative
placemaking. (City/Private/Nonprofit)
a. The city frequently requires sufficient access and parking to manage traffic generation to sites.
The creation of a meditative space and the locating of unmarked graves in which Black people
are laid to rest will need careful partnering with the city as the site constraints are not typical to
placemaking projects and burial site boundaries must be carefully observed.
Next Steps:
• Solicit feedback from the Black Heritage Preservation Commission on the proposed key goals at their
July 20 meeting.
• Refine the key goals for review with the City Attorney in August.
• Re -review the key goals with BHPC in their August 17 meeting.
• Present the draft framework to the Council on September 5 for consideration.