Last night the Pawtucket City Council approved a 20-year tax stabilization agreement for JK Equity, doing business as Blackstone Distribution Center LLC, the company that is seeking to pave over Morley Field, the neighborhood’s only public greenspace, for a parking lot. Tax stabilization agreements are essentially large tax breaks handed out to wealthy developers by cities and towns in exchange for economic developments that too often do not materialize.

Further complicating the story, the sale of Morley Field has brought charges of economic racism. Morley Field is the the only greenspace in Pawtucket’s District 5, a neighborhood encompassing the Woodlawn neighborhood (just north of Providence, along I-95, west of Pawtucket Ave.), which is approximately 74% people of color with 59% of people living at or below the poverty rate. 29% of the population are children. Woodlawn is a working class neighborhood where most people live in triple-deckers or multifamily units, often with no backyard. 

In written testimony to the members of the Pawtucket City Council, Pawtucket resident Benjamin Evans summed up the arguments against this tax stabilization agreement:

“A tax stabilization agreement should be a tool to spark new economic development in line with our shared vision for Pawtucket. It should be targeted to support developments which help move us forward,” wrote Evans to the City Council. “The last mile distribution center planned by JK Equities does not justify a tax break for these New York developers.

“Our new transit center makes Pawtucket a viable place to live for people who work in Boston. The Tidewater development promises to make Pawtucket a destination for soccer fans in our region. The free R Line bus could connect the North Main Street Corridor Revitalization planned by our neighbors in Providence to Pawtucket based small businesses like Jordan’s Jungle, Smug Brewery and Ten Rocks restaurant, businesses in Hope Artiste Village, etc. But the last mile distribution center clashes with this vision. It offers only more traffic congestion, more carbon monoxide, and low paying, high stress jobs.

“A tax break for JK Equities would not encourage the type of development our community wants to see along Main Street and Pawtucket Avenue,” continued Evans. “Instead, we need to target such tax breaks to developments that improve our quality of life here in Pawtucket.”

Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien, who has been pushing this development hard behind the scenes, was at Grow Smart Rhode Island‘s Transit-Oriented Development Conference last Friday where he made rare public comments about the project when publicly questioned by environmentalist Greg Gerritt.

Greg Gerritt: As we do these kinds of transit oriented developments, one of the things that one of the people mentioned is the need to keep green space. In Pawtucket, we have a real problem that some of the green space, the only green space in Woodlawn, is being closed to be turned into a parking lot – despite the fact that it’s illegal to convert that space and the fact that there was no community discussion prior to this. We need to think this through much more clearly and to have a discussion about the relationship between green spaces in communities and other kinds of development. I’m hoping Mayor Grebien will meet with the people who are working to save Morley Field because it’s a problem to see the only park in a Black and brown, low-income community get closed to be turned into a parking lot.

Mayor Grebien: I appreciate your passion but I also have to set some of the facts straight. We had an under-utilized green space in Pawtucket – Morley Field – that the developer came in and asked if they could purchase it. We sold half of it and replaced about three acres with 9.2 acres. We are out there looking for green space but we also have to bring in new jobs – and that was a balance. I talked about that earlier. Everything was done legally.

Greg Gerritt: No it wasn’t.

Mayor Grebien: I know, listen, I understand. I know there’s a passion and an argument. We heard you, you’ve stood before the council, and I respect it. I do. I want to tell you that we are in this together, you’re not losing green space. You might be losing that green space, but we’re committed to green space. So I think it’s fair conversation to have and I’ll have it with you all day, but thank you.

Moyor Grebien has accepted campaign donations from JK Equity owners, and is considering a run for the Congressional seat being vacated by David Cicilline.

JK Equity wants to but Morley Field, the only green spa e in an environmental injustice community. Pawtucket Mayor @DonGrebien has the City Council hard at work to make this happen. Why is he so keen on doing this?

One po$$ible reason: pic.twitter.com/FFQrdEs9ri

— SteveAhlquist.Substack.com (@steveahlquist) October 20, 2022

More coverage of Morley Field:

• New data calls into question the soil testing done at Morley Field by the developer, JK Equity
• Pawtucket continues plan to permanently shut down Morley Field
• Rally to save Morley Field shows opposition to paving greenspace gaining momentum
• Pawtucket moves to eliminate remaining green space in an environmental justice community
• Pawtucket has Plans to Make Two Environmental Justice Neighborhoods Green-Free
• Pawtucket continues plan to permanently shut down Morley Field
• Gerritt: The closing of Morley Field is illegal
• Pawtucket approves deal to pave most of Morley Field, legality remains in question
• Rally to save Pawtucket’s Morley Field as city ignores residents’ pleas