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Rally to demand inclusion and affordable homes
December 6, 2023 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm EST
Residents say that without changes, a proposed $45 million tax break deal will lock out current Lynn tenants, create a segregated neighborhood
WHAT:
Press conference/speak out and letter delivery – “No tax break for segregated luxury housing that locks out current residents.” Speakers in English and Spanish. Diverse crowd of residents with colorful protest signs.
WHEN:
Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at 2:00 pm
WHERE:
Lynn City Hall, Lynn, MA (steps outside front entrance)
WHO:
The event is co-organized by community organizations Essex County Community Organization; Lynn United for Change; MA Senior Action Council, Lynn Chapter; and Neighbor to Neighbor
______________________
Community organizations and residents will gather at Lynn City Hall to demand changes to a $45 million tax break deal that city leaders negotiated with a luxury housing developer in secret and are now rushing toward approval.
Billed as the largest investment in Lynn’s history, the proposed “South Harbor” luxury development would include 850 high end apartments on the waterfront. Organizers say that under current terms, the plan does not include even one apartment affordable to the average Lynn renter. Instead, they maintain, it will create a highly segregated new neighborhood that does not reflect Lynn’s racial and ethnic diversity.
After testimony from Lynn residents, leaders plan to hand deliver a letter* to the Mayor detailing concerns and calling for specific changes to the proposal. The groups sponsoring the action say the tax break should not be approved unless it is modified to make a substantial portion of the new homes accessible to Lynn’s working-class and low-income renters and communities of color.
Over 700 people have sent messages to city councilors voicing concerns about the project in less than a week – organizers say this is a sign that the proposal is at odds with the needs and desires of a large portion of Lynn’s population and tone-deaf to the priorities of the city’s communities of color and lower-income residents.
Despite the serious concerns with the project and the process, community groups remain open to compromise; the letter to the Mayor and developers notes that the organizations “hope to work with you to add greater inclusivity and equity to the plan so that a vote on this project can become a moment that brings Lynn together rather than divides the community.”
* Text of letter at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/south-harbor-no-tax-break-for-luxury-housing-that-excludes-lynn-tenants/
The above press release was submitted to us by Lynn United for Change.