Seven organizations posed these questions to the community and are now working together with residents to help steer Area 3 priorities as it relates to the development of the Former Harriet Tubman Site and the creation of a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA).

A Tubman Town Hall was hosted by Hope for the Inner City, Unity Group of Chattanooga, Chattanooga Area Labor Council, Chattanooga Organized for Action, Accountability for Taxpayer Money, The Urban League of Chattanooga and Glass House Collective. Chattanooga City Council members and the general public were also invited.

The amazing turnout on Saturday demonstrates that this is an important conversation. People are eager to know what Community Benefit Agreements are and what it takes to see them through.  The town hall was an important first step as we walk into this learning process together.

From the Town Hall Agenda:

• “What’s This Town Hall All About?” 
•   “As a coalition of organizations representing residents, laborers, people of faith, and taxpayers, we believe that the development of public land should happen with the community at the table. If we want a seat to have a seat at the table, we must be proactive in working together to form thought-out requests that be brought to the negotiation table with our city leaders and future developers.”

A transparent community-led process is needed with everything guided by a three-tiered approach:  Area 3 Focused – Community Led – City Supported.  With this in mind, participants at the town hall broke out in small groups for brainstorming sessions and taking surveys writing down their top ideas that should be included as community benefits for the Tubman site.  If you weren’t able to attend the Town Hall, or if you know of an organization, group or church who would be interested in taking the Community Benefit Survey please contact Austin Sauerbrei at 615-809-4448 or austinsauerbrei@gmail.com.

We understand that CBAs are just one tool and not the cure-all magic bullet. It is important to find and use all of the tools available at our disposal to hold developers accountable for the community development impacts of their projects in our neighborhoods.

Building a coalition to determine a CBA for Tubman will take a commitment of time, patience, and effort.  A strong coalition will need strong participation from all across Area 3 and Glass House Collective is committed to working together with city officials, residents and the entire coalition for the best outcomes. And we can win. Anne Barnett with StandUpNashville reminds us, “We have so much more power than we think we do. And we sure have more power together than we do apart.”

Thank you to Stand Up Nashville’s Anne Barnett for sharing their CBA success story. Thank you Hope For The Inner City for hosting the Town Hall.

CBA Town Hall, March 9, 2019

Facilitators’ planning meeting preparing for the CBA Town Hall.

The Greater Chattanooga Economic Partnership (GCEP) is a public-private, regional economic development partnership representing a 16-county region in Northeast Alabama, Northwest Georgia and Southeast Tennessee.

Glass House Collective partnered with green|spaces to create a newly created marketing brochure for the site in hopes that our partners distribute this piece to their contacts and we all work to get the word out about this incredible opportunity here in East Chattanooga.

What is communicated to any tentative development partner now is important to every single one of us, especially in the early stages of recruiting appropriate developers. Other resident-led priorities listed in the brochure include opportunities for employment and professional growth for people who live nearby; opportunities that contribute to the success of the surrounding neighborhoods, and partnerships that work with residents on a shared vision.

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency’s Area 3 Plan, which includes the Tubman Site, and which will provide guidance for new growth, redevelopment, and preservation within East Chattanooga, is also listed as a guidepost.

“…resident-led groups that are ready to partner with developers to help realize a shared vision for the site, ideally offering both strong opportunities for employment and professional growth as well as opportunities for residential and other assets that will contribute to the success of the development and surrounding neighborhoods.”  from  brochure for the Tubman Site 

Read it yourself. Please follow the link to a PDF of the GCEP Brochure here.

This is one step in the process toward the rezoning, and the City Council will have the final vote. That vote is now scheduled for Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 at 6pm.

Many residents of East Chattanooga including members of The Unity Group as well as Glass House Collective spoke in opposition of today’s vote, requesting that the vote be postponed, so that fuller discussions can take place.

Nicole Lewis, Glass House Collective’s Community Relations Manager, told the commissioners they were turning their back on what is widely known as “the Chattanooga Way,” a deliberate public input process that works toward building consensus.

“We are proud of the tradition of hearing voices. Why would we abandon that concept now?” Lewis said.

For more on the vote today please read these stories from the Chattanoogan.com and Times Free Press:

• Times Free Press: Planning commission unanimously approves rezoning for former Harriet Tubman public housing site

• Chattanoogan.com  Planning Commission Recommends M1 Zoning for Tubman Site Despite Some Community Opposition

We also recommend:

• David Cook’s Op-Ed from Monday morning’s paper: “The Real Tubman Is The One We Build Together”
• Helen Burns Sharp’s Letter to the Editor published on Chattanoogan.com: “Alstom and Tubman: a Tale of Two Sites”

We have included links to some of the media coverage the event received and appreciate the journalists who came out to cover this important and developing story. Those links include plenty of background information and additional resources surrounding this hot topic.

“We are concerned about the limitations that the newly proposed M-1 industrial zoning will place on future development possibilities. We wholeheartedly support the redevelopment of the Harriet Tubman site, but there must be clear measures of accountability to ensure that our input is acted upon and that low-income and working- class families will actually benefit from redevelopment,” according to the statement released at the Tuesday press conference.

Glass House Collective is thankful for the Unity Group’s bold statements and direct action on behalf of our community.  Please note that there are two upcoming important public meetings listed below concerning the rezoning request that are happening the beginning of next week. We hope to see many familiar faces standing up for their community at both the City Council meeting and the Regional Planning meeting.

Unity Group’s full public statement can be read here.  The 6-page document includes a call to action regarding the redevelopment plans for the former Harriet Tubman Homes public housing site, outlining “existing community needs and future steps we would like the City Government to take to ensure that the 44 acres of public land are used to create real opportunities for working families in East Chattanooga.”

Among other things, the Unity Group are putting forth four specific requests as well as a general plea for consideration and collaboration with East Chattanooga residents and stakeholders on any projects considered for the Tubman site.

One of the four requests includes the creation of an enforceable community benefits agreement (CBA) with the developer(s). Unity Group describes a CBA as “a project-specific agreement between a developer and a broad community coalition that details the project’s contributions to the community and ensures community support for the project. They can address a wide range of issues and are legally binding when properly structured.”

This new rezoning request comes while the Area 3 Plan process is still underway, with recommendations from that plan expected in early 2019. This summer, Glass House Collective along side so many of our neighbors took time to participate in the development of the Area 3 Plan where we discussed land use and a community vision; we drafted values, priorities and goals.

Jonah Williams, who has rented homes in several of the Area 3 neighborhoods, is now a Glass Farm home owner. Jonah says he is confused by the rezoning request, especially after participating with the RPA’s public input sessions for Area 3.

Area 3 includes Avondale, Battery Heights, Bushtown, Churchville, Boyce Station, Ferger Place, Gaylan Heights, Glass Farms, Glenwood, Highland Park, Oak Grove, Orchard Knob, Park Central, Ridgedale, Riverside, Watehaven and Wheeler.

“We’re not against good ideas. But this request now contradicts what was already started and all the strides in conversation we had as a community this summer. RPA spent time collecting data. So this feels a bit like putting the cart before the horse, when we don’t even have the results of that plan. That’s confusing for me,” Mr. Williams said.

While Area 3 is a large area that also includes the Tubman site, the 44 acre site is a big topic of discussion when it comes to determining community-lead priorities for land use within Area 3. We expect as a result of the effort put into the Area 3 Plan to be working collaboratively with stakeholders, developers, residents and city officials once that plan is complete.

TWO IMPORTANT MEETINGS
Monday, December 10,  1pm
Public Hearing With Regional Planning Agency
County Commission Room
Hamilton County Courthouse
625 Georgia Avenue

Tuesday, December 11 6pm – 7pm
City Council
Assembly Room, City Council Building
1000 Lindsay Street

In Case You Missed It:

• WRCB-TV3: Unity Group Wants Input For Former Harriet Tubman Complex
• Times Free Press: Community Leaders Want Andy Berke to Pull Rezone Request For Former Harriet Tubman Housing Site
• WDEF-TV12: Community Group Outlines Steps For Harriet Tubman Site
• YOUTUBE: video from WRCB-TV

At the center of the event was “The Pool,” an interactive art installation by Jen Lewin, an artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Her 106 “pucks” are programmed to light up in a swirl of colors when festival attendees step, run, or dance across them.

GHC director, Teal Thibaud and Empower director, Dawn Hjelseth began plotting over a year ago about how to bring the light and energy-centric sculpture to Chattanooga, and rather than the central downtown area, they wanted to see the sculpture in the midst of neighborhoods, where folks could easily play and mingle together who may not otherwise do so. The 1900 block of Roanoke Ave. (just down the road, along the same stretch as Glass Street), in East Chattanooga was “The Pool’s” first stop, and as Dawn describes, “definitely the most challenging for setting up, due to the completely deserted nature of the site.”

Everything needed to create the East Chatt Highlight Festival had to be brought in with trucks from the outside, a feat made possible through collaboration and sponsorship. The City of Chattanooga owns the land the festival took place on, and were agreeable to help prep the area by mowing and unlocking the gates. Dozens of fire anthills dotted the chosen corner, so volunteers and staff spent time Wed. and Thurs. marking hills with pink flags and sprinkling poison to avoid any mishaps for innocent wanderers when the festival opened Friday evening. Following the press preview Thursday, everyone was beginning to feel pumped, seeing the lights come on and react to our steps. Several neighborhood kids wandered past, and we beckoned them in to test out the installation, and an off-duty CARTA driver stopped her car on the way home to come investigate. All were excited to come back for the main event.

The Lyrical Lights portion of the Festival took place as a Friday kick-off, and was a rousing success, with DJ Tony Dubs keeping the crowd dancing, spoken word, performances by Marley Fox, 2$ON, KG, and others, with yoga on “The Pool” led by Lululemon ambassador, Becky Byrns. Rondell Crier of Studio Everything facilitated free painting on a giant wooden “H” for “Highlight,” and other local artists like Briah Gober had work on display for enjoyment and/or purchase.

At the time, none of us realized Friday would provide our only dry weather for enjoying “The Pool” for the duration of the festival, but everyone truly did make the most of it! 4 Bridges Arts Festival attendees from downtown, eager to check out “The Pool” and perhaps explore a part of East Chattanooga new to them, came and mixed with neighbors and families from nearby, all dancing and sharing the experience together.

For Saturday, the 3rd Annual Gospel on Glass kicked off the continuation of the festival with a special free afternoon concert bringing together a range of phenomenally talented artists sharing their gifts in spite of  intermittent showers. The evening portion of the day, meant to extend until 10:00PM had to be cut short due to a heavy downpour, but not before several attendees had a chance to play some on “The Pool,” and some friends stuck around to help secure the tents to withstand the drenching and wind during the night.

Sunday afternoon launched somewhat later than planned as well, because of heavy rain, but in the spirit of teamwork volunteers helped shovel mulch into muddy areas, straighten tents, repair and change out banners, and even move the ever-popular bounce-house closer in beside the colorful “Pool” area for a cozier set-up. DJ LV and DJ Tryezz set up camp under a protective tent and kept us all dancing even while damp.

LV shared during the afternoon set up that it was surreal spinning out on the old Boone Heights site. He grew up there, and hadn’t been back since, although he was sporting a “Straight Outta Boone Heights” t-shirt in anticipation of a coming reunion with other friends who have mixed-emotions about the area, and share curiosity about what may eventually get built here. “For now, it’s just good to meet people and share my music.”

New friendships, brilliant artwork, powerful music, and camaraderie in the face of challenging weather all helped the East Chatt Highlight Festival accomplish it’s original intention: to connect neighbors with the power of art, shining a light on the good happening in the East Chattanooga neighborhoods.  Click HERE for our official event video on our YouTube channel.

The artist arrangements are being made in collaboration with Public Art Chattanooga, and director Katelyn Kirnie says, “We are very excited to launch ‘The Pool’ in the Glass Street neighborhood, and for all the participating neighbors to have access to an interactive tech-integrated artwork which is sure to activate the former Harriet Tubman site and bring the community together.”

Our 3rd annual Gospel on Glass, funded by Tennessee Arts Commission is scheduled for Saturday, April 22 and will be held at the same location with the installation, to provide a live music component near and dear to the hearts of our neighbors. Plans are well underway for organizing favorite performers from Chattanooga’s gospel community for Saturday, while we continue to dream up a more freestyle hip-hop evening of programming for Friday’s kick-off. It will be exciting to see what comes together as local artists and musicians collaborate on expressions that make the most of the colorful lighting context of “The Pool.”

Since 2012 alone, The Pool has traveled to over 30 major installation sites worldwide, clocking millions of user steps, but has never been open to the public in the Southeast. Prior installations have been in metro areas including downtown Denver, SXSW, Google Headquarters; and it will be coming from Hong Kong before arriving in Chattanooga. The artist has selected this project to be a “Global Showcase”, a designation that is expected to bring international media attention to the installation and host neighborhood partners.

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Watch for continued program updates here on our blog and on our Facebook page as we move closer to this exciting weekend: April 21-23!

Read more in Sean Phipps’ preview article on Nooga.com