Christina Weggs testifies on community ownership and anti-displacement

Thank you.

Hi, thanks so much for having us today.

My name's Christina Weggs.

I'm an independent consultant, and I work on justice-focused urban policy, community co-design, and participatory governance of urban development.

I live in Kensington Flatbush, which is part of the south of Prospect Plan area.

And like we've heard from many of us here, me and my neighbors, we support block to block, but we think it must be delivered through a comprehensive neighborhood plan, just as you've reiterated.

I agree with many of the points that have been made, so maybe I'll add a few more on the table.

I think as a resident and as a practitioner, my interest is to ensure that long-time residents and local businesses in my neighborhood can both shape the growth that's coming to our neighborhood and benefit from that growth rather than being displaced from it.

And I have four asks.

One, and I think we heard very eloquently from others, we need deep and meaningful affordability.

Every rezone area and city-owned site should report on how many new homes are affordable at the 30 and 50 percent of area median income.

And we should set targets for each community district.

Also, as you reiterated yourself, we really need pathways to community ownership.

Ownership lets the community members stay and share in the value that growth is creating in their neighborhoods.

And I'm asking, and we heard a little bit about this, for dedicated funds with technical support for community.

land trust, co-ops, tenants in small buildings, and affordable ground floor space for local businesses on city sites.

We need meaningful community engagement throughout the whole process.

I'm very grateful that in my area, council members Rita Joseph, Shana Hanif, and Farrah Lewis, as well as the city department, have the city planning department have already started great engagement.

I'm asking that that continue not just through our 2027 plan, but throughout construction.

And what I heard in a meeting yesterday was the critical importance of funding local groups who are able to continuously convene community members who might not be reached by the city.

A draft plan should show how it reflected and responded to what community members asked for, and there needs to be a public tracker and a local advisory group to track that commitments are followed through.

The last point I'd like to make, and I'll add this, is we need anti-displacement protections before rezoning and transit arrive.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Sayonara.