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COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT & TASK FORCE FORTHESOUTHDALENEIGHBORHOOD Southdale:-Rimrock Neighborhood Association July 3, 2008 WHAT DO WE WANT? The current Southdale Neighborhood Plan (SNP) and Novation Technology Campus Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) include detailed architectural and design elements, but have no concrete mandates for community benefits. Both Plans are on the verge of approval, and in addition we face imminent land-use and zoning changes. We believe that neighborhood residents must have a voice in this process, and that community benefits should drive the development as much as economic necessity and-commercial viability. The Southdale Neighborhood Association (SRNA) has been advocating for tangible benefits, and consensus-building for over a year-and-a-half. We believe that a livable neighborhood is compatible with good development and we invite elected officials, developers and neighbors to support development that serves the entire community. In order to move forward with support for development plans, we propose the following: . The SRNA, Alexander Company, and local officials commit to negotiating a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) targeting: local jobtraining and hiring, affordable honsingsecurity, environment/open space/urban ag, community services, and oversight and accountability, . The SRNA, Alexander Company, local officials and community members commit to the formation of a Southdale Neighborhood Task Force, . The CBA and Task Force be explicitly included in the d_eyclQpment/neighborhood plans. WHAT IS A "COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT?" From the Partnership for Working Families website bItlXL/'::2:'YY~~.:_~Qnlm!!llL0'_R~.!J~LU1~.&lIgL: "A Community Benefits Agreement, or a CBA, is a legally enforceable contract, signed by community groups .' and by a developer, setting forth a range of community benefits that the developer agrees to provide as part of a development project. A CBA is the result of a negotiation process between the developer and organized representatives of affected communities, in which the developer agrees to shape the development in a certain way or to provide specified community benefits. In exchange, the community groups promise to support the proposed project before government bodies that provide the necessary permits and subsidies. The CBA is both a process to work towards these mutually beneficial objectives, and a mechanism to enforce both sides' promises." WHAT IS THE "SOUTHDALE NEIGHBORHOOD TASK FORCE?" The Task Force will be an ongoing forum for residents, developers and officials to guide the implementation of the planning initiatives and the CBA. Through open dialog and trust-building, the Task Force will facilitate conflict resolution, creative initiatives and oversight of commitments outlined in the CBA. EXAMPLES OF CBA'S Park East Redevelopment Compact (Milwaukee, WI): Passed in 2005. A broadbased coalition of community, labor, environmental and faith-based entities worked to pass the PERC. This County ordinance requires any development on a large tract of county-owned land to meet job quality standards and hire local residents. The PERC also establishes a separate fund that will finance affordable housing development using money from sale of county land. Yale-New Haven Hospital CBA (New Haven, CT): Negotiated in March 2006 by Connecticut Center for a New Economy (CCNE), this agreement set aside money for housing, economic development, youth programs and job training, included strong environmental standards, and a job training & local hire program, and addressed neighborhood & community concerns. elM Project CBA (San Jose, CA): Negotiated in April 2003 by Working Partnerships USA (WPUSA). WPUSA's efforts yielded an agreement that established living wage protections for parking garage employees, set aside space for locally owned small-businesses on site, and required the developer to seek living wage jobs for grocery, retail or hotel dimensions of the project. Strong affordable housing requirements round out the CBA.