Dear Editor:
I’m writing regarding Team Walker’s “Childhood Development Center” proposed at 183 Pine Street, a project embroiled in much misinformation, some of which are stated in Mr. Steven Pinkney Sr.’s letter of January 17, 2010. The center Mr. Pinkney and other supporters allude to and expect is NOT exactly what Jerry Walker proposes at Pine Street, as it was presented to MCRADC, a community empowerment group created by the Morris Canal Redevelopment Plan. It’s NOT the center presented in a separate meeting attended by Councilwoman Viola Richardson, June Jones (MCRADC), and Team Walker’s legal counsel. As a resident of Pine Street active with this issue, I’m compelled to have the facts come out.
In the aforementioned meetings, Jerry described his project as an afterschool tutoring program, which he qualified to exclusively serve 15 elite children, ages 11-15, who will be bused to the site from PS22. He also suggested that the building would house his organization’s headquarters. These may be confirmed by the documents and drawings filed with the Planning Board, which is set to hear the case. The Morris Canal Redevelopment Plan does NOT permit a center, such as the one described by Jerry or his supporters, at 183 Pine Street. Furthermore, the center’s characterizations by Jerry’s supporters reinforce the arguments that 183 Pine Street is ill-suited for it. This is a land use issue that disregards the Morris Canal Redevelopment Plan and the city’s planning process. It’s a questionable development proposal that appears to have missed the scrutiny of the Planning Department, and although the city’s Zoning Director, Tony Lambiase, did not certify the project as a permitted use in the property, the application was given the go-ahead by Carl Czaplicki, head of HEDC, which also committed nearly one million dollars of public funding to the project.
This controversy pins a small group of residents against a large group of people who offer Jerry their unconditional support, regardless of any consequences. The residents and property owners of Pine and Boltwood Streets, who will be directly and adversely impacted by the project, rightfully oppose the center’s location. These residents who have been proactively seeking a positive resolution to this issue have been unfairly criticized as “petty, mean-spirited and divisive” newcomers whose rights, their critics suggest, are less than those of Jerry and his supporters. These residents have been vilified and marginalized by Jerry’s fans who base their allegations on misinformation, even stooping so low as to brandish the ‘race card’ against the diverse group, consisting of many who have been in Pine Street for decades, several of them for generations.
It would serve the entire community best if the true facts behind the issue are exposed. Even better, it’s to everyone’s benefit if Jerry himself would willingly step up to clarify and dismiss all inconsistencies about his center. People believe him to be a beloved son of Lafayette, a community advocate to many, and an “icon” to some, and one who can initiate the healing that this Lafayette community needs.
Lycel Villanueva, RA, PP, LEED AP