Over the last 18-24 months, the City of Pawtucket has approved a new truck distribution hub to be located at the former Microfibers Facility on 1 Moshassuck Street, on the border of Providence where Smithfield Avenue turns into North Main Street. Each stage of the plan was unanimously approved by the Pawtucket City Council and mostly flew under the radar of residents in Pawtucket and Providence. Organized resistance in Providence geared up too late to impact the planned distribution facility, which will increase traffic on North Main Street just as plans were taking shape to revitalize that part of Providence with new housing and commerce.

Recently, the applicant, JK Equities LLC, decided to expand their footprint by offering to purchase an abutting property, Morley Field, the only green and recreational space in Pawtucket’s environmentally challenged District 5. JK Equities LLC plans to cap the property, which was recently found to have unsafe levels of heavy metals and other contaminants, and pave it over for a 369 space parking lot. [It should be noted that, according to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), potential site contamination is under investigation and DEM has not shut down the field due to any contamination issues. The decision to shut down Morley Field was made by the City of Pawtucket.]

For more info, see: Pawtucket has Plans to Make Two Environmental Justice Neighborhoods Green-Free over at ecoRI

Because Morley Field was originally built with federal money, selling the park to a developer means it must be replaced with a park of equal or greater value elsewhere. According to Rhode Island’s DEM Director Terrence Gray, any plan to close and replace Morley Field requires the approval of the National Parks Service (NPS). “This isn’t an easy process,” wrote Director Gray in an email. “The City has to propose new recreational facilities/land at least of equal value for the site proposed for conversion. DEM facilitates the process but the decision is made by the NPS.”

Right now the plan is to convert land about a mile away – in a neighboring, more affluent, whiter district – to a park. To get to the park, residents from District 5 would be required to walk over the very steep Oak Hill. To do this in hot weather is “an unreasonable thing” said one member of the public. Residents of District 5 and their City Councilmember Clovis Gregor, are justifiably upset about the loss of green space in their community.

At Tuesday evening’s Pawtucket Planning Commission hearing, the community showed up to express their opposition to the plan to pave over Morley Field. Dozens of people showed up in person or online to oppose the sale of Morley Field. 15 or more people testified against the plan, and no member of the public testified in favor. Despite this, the Commission, made up of Monique Renaud, Karen Kolodziej, Steven Pedro, and Albert Vitali Jr. approved the plan 4-0. Commission member Antero Martins excused himself from the room shortly before the vote.

The testimony:

Pawtucket resident Molly Henry noted that Pawtucket’s District 5 scores 47 out of 100 on the Tree Equity Score analyzer, a tool made available on line by American Forests. The score, derived from a number of factors including income, race, population density, age and tree cover, is the lowest in Pawtucket and lower than any section of Providence, including the environmentally challenged communities around the Port of Providence. A lower score means the neighborhood is a high priority for the development of green spaces and tree planting. Instead, Pawtucket is moving to eliminate the only existing green space in the district.

Further, the neighborhood in question is 74% people of color, 59% live at or below the poverty rate and 29% of residents are children. The majority live in multifamily units with no backyards.

“I’m deeply concerned that the city would even consider paving over the only access to green space in the district,” said Henry.

Lifelong Pawtucket resident Tatiana Reis called out the developer for not understanding the impact their plan would have on the people who live in the neighborhood. The developer, noted Reis, refers to the area as “the baseball field” but to the people, it’s Morley Field.

“The lack of interest in the community and [the lack] of discussions with community is obvious in their testimony,” said Reis. “379 parking spots does not equate to the memories of the children in our community. We use Morley Field for Pop Warner games, we use it or exercise, we use it to just hang out, put our blankets down and chill, but we do not have that option any more because the city has neglected Morley Field for so many years…”

Reis lamented that, Pawtucket “often advertise to people out of state to come in and take over our communities and remove our only green space for our young children, the children of our future, to be able to run around. I don’t think the children of Pawtucket, the children of this District 5 working class neighborhood, equals to 379 parking spots.”

“I oppose this whole thing, all of it,” said Lee Wilder, an environmentalist and member of Sunrise Providence. “You’re putting a dumping ground in a Black and brown neighborhood. It’s environmental racism. If you really want to put a dumping ground in a Black and brown neighborhood you should put it in your neighborhood first, see how you like it, and I guarantee you will not want to put it in anyone else’s neighborhood. Don’t do this.”

District 5 Pawtucket City Councilmember Clovis Gregor was the only elected official to speak before the commission. State Senator Meghan Kallman (Democrat, District 15, Pawtucket) and State Representative Jean Philippe Barros (Democrat, District 59, Pawtucket) declined to attend.

“I immigrated her in 1978 when I was 13 years old and Morley Field was the only green space in this area that I could play in,” said Councilmember Gregor. “So it means a great deal to me. The fact that the planning department has made zero effort in trying to identify any site in District 5 to replace Morley Field is appalling. It’s insulting and like the lady just suggested, it is racism because this would never have happened in any other district in the city.”

“The idea that there wouldn’t be green space in Ward 5 is just shameful,” said Pawtucket resident Jennifer Stewart. Stewart is running to unseat State Representative Jean Philippe Barros. “Because if you walk through Ward 5, just think about the heatwave we just went through last week, there’s not a lot of green in that area. There’s not a lot of tree canopy. The idea that people should leave the neighborhood and go elsewhere in search of green space is just wrong. I hope the city will reassess and do better for the residents of Ward 5.”

Environmentalist Greg Gerritt brought up the fact that Morley Field is the only river accessible green space in all of Pawtucket. “There is no other public green space along the river.”

“This is also a place of great wildlife,” said Gerritt. “Osprey raised young on Morley Field this year.” Gerritt has video of osprey feeding babies, building nests and raising young on Morley Field. He also has video of red tail hawks, vultures, [and] killdeer. “Osprey are a migratory bird and you’re not allowed to disturb their nesting.”

Here’s everyone else who testified against the project. Note that everyone made very important points, and lumping them together here is no reflection on their saliency.

The developer:

Attorney Sean Coffey from the Burns & Levinson law firm introduced the plan to the commission and was supported by a team of specialists:

Unusually, Attorney Coffey was given time to address public comment, giving the company the first and last word before the commission.

The city:

Pawtucket’s Planning and Redevelopment Assistant Director Jay Rosa then presented his department’s recommendation that the plan be approved. Rosa noted more than once that the Pawtucket City Council, including District 5 Councilmember Clovis Gregor, voted to approve every step of the development, including the sale of Morley Field.

Councilmember Gregor defended himself briefly, before storming out of the meeting.

Rosa then responded to Councilmember Gregor.

The commission deliberated, and commission member Antero Martins excused himself before the vote because he was not feeling well. Martins is 98 years old.

Pawtucket’s Director of Planning Bianca Policastro explained that the Commission is extremely limited in how they can decide issues.

“The Commission can vote ‘No’ though,” said Uprise RI’s Steve Ahlquist, breaking the promise they made to themselves to stay quiet and observe. “The Commission has the right to vote against. They don’t have to blindly follow the ‘law;’ they don’t have to vote ‘Yes.’ They could say ‘No.’ They could also delay, correct? They could also delay if the so chose and wanted more information.”

In the end the Commission dropped some gristle from their plate and voted to include a small section of land for access to the river and potentially a tiny sliver of green space for river access. They then approved the potential sale of Morley Field to the developer.