MARCH – MAY 2021
Community
Benefits
Agreement
Despite aggressive attacks and counter-organizing by Homeowner Associations (HOAs), business owners, the “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) crowd, and city council members who continue to place property over people, we passed a Community Benefits Agreement for a housing project in South Phoenix that ensured accessibility, including reduced rent, to formerly incarcerated members of our community.
A CBA is a project-specific agreement between a developer and a broad community coalition that details the project’s contributions to addressing Resegregation by responding to the needs identified by local mutual aid efforts on the front lines of displacement.
This housing project’s approval was a MAJOR win for POPi in 2021! It’s also a huge step forward for our work as we continue to disrupt and dismantle Phoenix’s anti-Black and exclusionary development process which has led to the displacement of our communities.
SEPTEMBER 2019 + NOVEMBER 2020
South Central Transit-Oriented Development Committee
The South Central Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Committee was appointed by Mayor Gallego to develop a policy document to guide future development along the South Central Corridor. This policy document was intended to “attract, guide, and prioritize strategic investments in infrastructure, housing, economic development, and other areas to realize a shared community vision for the future of the corridor”.
Furthermore, the committee has already decided that policy recommendations should focus on development without displacement as a stated goal and intention.
The committee’s November meeting was an opportune moment for us to call on community members and our partners to disrupt the narrative around development policy. Normally property comes before people in spaces and institutions like this, and the culture of land use and development has historically prioritized white comfort and safety.
By calling in and leaving public comments, we were able to center the conversation on our values while pushing the committee to place people over property.
JULY 2020
No to CPLC's
Development Project
In one of our first direct actions, POPi launched a campaign opposing Chicanos Por La Causa’s (CPLC) new property development project in South Phoenix located off of Broadway and 6th Ave, less than a half mile away from the future South Central light rail extension. CPLC’s proposal did not center those most directly impacted by health disparity in the South Mountain Village nor can it deliver on its promise of being affordable for the communities that live there.
CPLC refused to meaningfully engage the community, declining an invitation by local Black led organizing efforts for additional engagement on these issues. This refusal was an act of racial violence and anti-blackness that will no longer be accepted as standard ways of doing development.
CPLC proposed a project in a neighborhood with a 25% Black population, in the middle of a million dollar block with an 81% recidivism rate, yet refused to engage local Black leadership on issues of housing accessibility for people formerly incarcerated.
Phoenix City Council did not to listen to the concerns of the community that were delivered to them via public comments, 500+ petition signatures, and a letter from multiple community organizations. They voted to pass this project in July of 2020 with a unanimous vote.
Any developer who refuses to engage in a dialogue about how to meet the actual needs of those most at risk of displacement in the South Phoenix community, should be denied.
Community
Benefits
Agreement
MARCH – MAY 2021
Despite aggressive attacks and counter-organizing by Homeowner Associations (HOAs), business owners, the “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) crowd, and city council members who continue to place property over people, we passed a Community Benefits Agreement for a housing project in South Phoenix that ensured accessibility, including reduced rent, to formerly incarcerated members of our community.
A CBA is a project-specific agreement between a developer and a broad community coalition that details the project’s contributions to addressing Resegregation by responding to the needs identified by local mutual aid efforts on the front lines of displacement.
This housing project’s approval was a MAJOR win for POPi in 2021! It’s also a huge step forward for our work as we continue to disrupt and dismantle Phoenix’s anti-Black and exclusionary development process which has led to the displacement of our communities.
South Central Transit-Oriented Development Committee
SEPTEMBER 2019 + NOVEMBER 2020
The South Central Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Committee was appointed by Mayor Gallego to develop a policy document to guide future development along the South Central Corridor. This policy document was intended to “attract, guide, and prioritize strategic investments in infrastructure, housing, economic development, and other areas to realize a shared community vision for the future of the corridor”. Furthermore, the committee has already decided that policy recommendations should focus on development without displacement as a stated goal and intention.
The committee’s November meeting was an opportune moment for us to call on community members and our partners to disrupt the narrative around development policy. Normally property comes before people in spaces and institutions like this, and the culture of land use and development has historically prioritized white comfort & safety. By calling in and leaving public comments, we were able to center the conversation on our values while pushing the committee to place people over property.
No to CPLC's
Development
Project
JULY 2020
In one of our first direct actions, POPi launched a campaign opposing Chicanos Por La Causa’s (CPLC) new property development project in South Phoenix located off of Broadway and 6th Ave, less than a half mile away from the future South Central light rail extension. CPLC’s proposal did not center those most directly impacted by health disparity in the South Mountain Village nor can it deliver on its promise of being affordable for the communities that live there.
CPLC refused to meaningfully engage the community, declining an invitation by local Black led organizing efforts for additional engagement on these issues. This refusal was an act of racial violence and anti-blackness that will no longer be accepted as standard ways of doing development.
Phoenix City Council did not to listen to the concerns of the community that were delivered to them via public comments, 500+ petition signatures, and a letter from multiple community organizations. They voted to pass this project in July of 2020 with a unanimous vote.
CPLC proposed a project in a neighborhood with a 25% Black population, in the middle of a million dollar block with an 81% recidivism rate, yet refused to engage local Black leadership on issues of housing accessibility for people formerly incarcerated.
Any developer who refuses to engage in a dialogue about how to meet the actual needs of those most at risk of displacement in the South Phoenix community, should be denied.
