It began last spring with a modest gathering of neighborhood leaders and concerned residents. On invitation from the Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood Association and Central Northeast Neighbors, the assembled group planted the seed for a “smart growth” movement to push for reform in residential demolition/development regulation. Promoted as “Demolition/Development Summit I”, discussion focused on the rapidly spreading development practice of destroying older quality homes to make way for the building of larger, more expensive new houses—often two or more squeezed onto an existing lot—with little or no attention to neighbors’ concerns regarding environmental safety, ecological preservation, availability of affordable housing, and architectural compatibility with surrounding homes. It is a mindset akin to building in a vacuum, as if nothing else existed on the block—random destruction coupled with anything-goes construction—and sanctioned by a City Hall seemingly oblivious to the problem. Residents felt helpless and reached out to local activists.
Over the summer, demolitions surged and along with it momentum for change. Testimony at a July 31st City Council hearing before a packed chamber of frustrated residents jolted Mayor Charlie Hales into reform mode, motivating him to declare that he would personally take the lead in addressing the problem. Many weeks later the Mayor opted instead to refer the matter to Amanda Fritz, the Commissioner assigned to oversee the Bureau of Development Services. BDS issues demolition permits and implements building code regulations. By summer’s end however, substantive change was still nowhere to be found, and neighborhood associations and preservation organizations were relegated to fighting individual battles to save this or that house. Despite scattered victories the vast majority of demolitions continued undeterred. With the Comprehensive Plan Update months away from completion and BDS either unable or unwilling to make meaningful changes in the short run, summits reconvened.
Unlike the previous spring when turnout for Summit I was relatively meager, the fall summits drew crowds of 70-80 from over two-dozen neighborhoods with neighborhood association leaders in the lead. A new name for the movement was unveiled at Summit II—appropriately, United Neighborhoods for Reform (UNR). Then came the challenging task to reach consensus on which items to include in a proposal that would be presented to City Council. A UNR Draft Proposal Committee was organized at Summit III with BWNA Land Use expert Jack Bookwalter as chair. Over a dozen committee members would meet to parse recommendations on size compatibility, lot splitting, solar access, tree preservation, and other related issues. Local media picked up the story, and City Hall responded. Soon BDS’s advisory committee—the Development Review Advisory Committee (DRAC)—created its own subcommittee to consider several demolition reforms advocated by UNR, including a more realistic definition of demolition, expanded delays, enhanced notification, and mandatory debris disposal compliance. Both UNR and DRAC hope to present proposals to Council by December.