The Black Explosion

Black Explosion January 26 1977 Page 3 Anthony A. Harris On January 17 Lakeland’s Project Area Committee met. They discussed options related to their opposition to the plan presented by developer Leon Weiner. They presented four concepts s to the city council. 1. To convene the developer to consider the wishes of the community. 2. Have individuals send any complaints they have directly to HUD. 3. To draw up a specific list of the elements they would like rot add to the plan. 4. To dissolve PAC as it has no use. Community members oppose the plan proposed by Weiner as it contains few single family homes. Instead it has mid and high-raise apartment buildings. Rather than recommending Weiner for the work. PAC members endorsed a community based development group, Lakeland Joint Venture who would have returned 10 to 15 percent of their profits to the community to build a community center. A photo by Alex Thompson showing the urban renewal office trailer is also on the page.

Black Explosion January 24, 1974 Page 5 University of Maryland employee relations officer and black faculty and staff association member, Charles Carroll was elected to College Park's city council. He is the sole Black voting member of that body. Mr. Carroll is in favor of urban renewal but said it must be a benefit to the community. He is concerned about elderly members of the community having to move out and being faced with hardship cased by higher rents. He would like to see more Blacks gaining administrative work with the city. To date the only Black employees are refuse collectors. Other concerns expressed were traffic noise and the concept of lowering the age for holding of municpal elected office from 25 to 21. To be an elected city official an individual must also be a resident for at least 90 days and own property.

Black Explosion September 11, 1977 Page 8 Michele Chandler According to Leonard Smith, chairman of the project area committee (PAC their efforts to change development plans for the Lakeland community are useless. The project was built in 1974 for the low income residents. It was intended to replace poor housing in the neighborhood. Do to years of delays and cost increase developers were invited to give the city lower cost options. At a public hearing in August developer, Leon Weiner presented his plan which included two 150 unit apartment buildings one for senior citizens and another for University faculty, staff and perhaps students. 26 townhomes, 40 apartments for low to moderate income households and 6 single family homes. The mayor asked that city staff and the citizens group look at other options for the project. Weiner met with PAC two weeks after the hearing and said he would consider the input. Mr. Smith called the work "wasted effort" and said "with seven white council members and only one black, we have no bargaining power." Residents are firmly against the building of the apartment for members of the University community. They want single family homes. The group agreed to the building of the senior citizens units if they were set away from Baltimore Avenue to promote the safety of its residents. They also asked that the building be reduced in size such that it would only accommodate members of the College Park community. The citizens also asked that the number of public housing units be 24 not 26 and that they be spread throughout the community rather than placed in one area. Another request was that Lakeland Road, Navahoe Street and Berwyn House Roads not be closed. Mr. Smith also decried the lack of provision for neighborhood commercial space to allow the continuation of small stores. PAC member Mary Braxton polled former residents and most reported they left the community due to "inadequate housing".