CC PACKET 09082016-SPECIAL MEETING

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In addition, the City is required by § 327C095 subd. 4 to review and evaluate the impact the closure may have on displaced residents. You should know that the sale and the proposed closure of the Park also raise serious disparate impact issues under the federal Fair Housing Act. A resident survey indicates that about 75% of the homes in the Park cannot be moved and will be lost with park closure. The low income residents of these homes face enormous rent increases in the current market – from an average lot rent of $435 to market rents on the order of $900-$1,000. They will all probably have to leave St. Anthony to find affordable housing. Their children will lose the benefit of the city’s great school system. Those whose homes can be moved will also have to leave St. Anthony because of course there are no other manufactured home sites here. A disproportionate number of the households which will lose their homes if the Park closes are Latino residents (about 27% of the homeowners in the park v. about 3% of the residents of St. Anthony and 4.7% of the residents of Ramsey County). Our survey of the park showed that Latino households have larger household sizes compared with white households, and that Latinos and other people of color represent well over half the park’s population. We don’t believe it is in the City’s interest to collaborate with the Fair Housing Act violations of the developer and past owner by adopting a resolution that finds, contrary to the Attorney General’s opinion, and without any actual review of the facts, that the closure statement complies with statutory requirements. Therefore we urge you conclude the closure statement insufficient, and that the public hearing be continued until the resolution of our lawsuit. Stand with us. We are your neighbors. Sincerely, Antonia Alvarez President, Lowry Grove Resident Association Co-Founder, Asamblea de Derechos Civiles