|
As real estate values increase, pressure is increasing on residents of West Rehoboth to sell their land. But residents fear that the growing temptation to sell property will diminish a community that they are trying instead to revitalize.
At a community workshop on Friday, Oct. 1, two speakers, well versed in community efforts, challenged those present to foster accountability in preserving and improving West Rehoboth and its community.
West Rehoboth, with about 200 predominately black residents, is a relatively small neighborhood just west of downtown Rehoboth Beach. The West Rehoboth residents who attended want to preserve and improve their neighborhood. But they also pointed out that not everyone shares this priority.
One resident said that because many of her neighbors inherited their property from family and didn’t earn it themselves, they are less personally invested in the neighborhood and more likely to succumb to monetary incentives to sell.
Walter Dixie, director of Jubilee Homes of Syracuse, N.Y., an organization devoted to community revitalization in southwest Syracuse, said establishing community land trusts may help residents preserve their neighborhood.
A community land trust (CLT) is a private, nonprofit, grassroots effort to acquire and hold land for the benefit of a community and provide secure, affordable access to land and housing for community residents. Such trusts work by acquiring property, managing that property through rehabilitation or development, and working with potential homebuyers through education and counseling.
Community land trusts allow communities to gain control over local land use by discouraging absentee ownership and encouraging the maximum public return on investment. This is a crucial issue to working people in resort communities where affordable housing is easily lost to developers, Dixie said.
Dixie said constituents should determine ìthe balance between progress and affordable housing.î He also said that it ìcanít be done by volunteers aloneî and that funding is necessary for action. One resident pointed out that some in West Rehoboth would sell their property to the highest offer- even if it came from a developer and not the CLT.
Dixie spoke intently on relationship building and challenged people who are involved to facilitate these relationships. ìEveryone plays a role in the rebirth of a community.î
Gardenia White, a community educator from South Carolina, said she agreed that residents and constituents must build relationships. She also recognized the need for a community leader, someone whose fulltime job it is to undertake action on the matters that are talked about. ìWe need to be our neighborís keepers,î she said.
White has had a lifetime of experience helping communities. After retiring in 2002 as the head of a New York City education center, she divides her time between her continuing work there and in South Carolina.
She said she believed that the money needed in West Rehoboth could be raised that day ìif youíre going to practice what you preach.î
White became emotional when recalling her first reaction to the neighborhood. ìIím sure none of you guys live down there,î she said addressing one side of the room, ìbecause if you did you wouldnít have let this happen."
State Sen. George Bunting Jr. (D-Bethany Beach) defended state and city efforts. Speaking of West Rehobothís West Side New Beginnings Community Center, he said, "That community center didnít get there by accident."
ìThere was a lot of hard work," Bunting said. He mentioned $200,000 for West Rehoboth roads, but he admitted that no one would believe it until they see the cement truck on their street. He said later that the roadwork has been delayed during the busy summer months but that, weather permitting, the construction crew will be finished ìin a week or so."
Bunting also said that ìnot everyoneís out there waving flagsî but that a lot of people are working hard to help West Rehoboth. He mentioned repeated neighborhood cleanups and multiple community efforts to benefit the children of West Rehoboth.
Everyone agreed that further organization is required to move forward and many who spoke said they were in favor of a land trust. There was, however, a lack of details regarding the best way to implement that kind of plan.
Bunting said he ìwant[s] to hear the nuts and bolts on how to set this trust up.î He also pointed out that ìa direct component missing here is the county.î West Rehoboth is not within Rehoboth Beach city limits and the city is not ultimately responsible for it.
Even though it is technically not part of the city of Rehoboth Beach, Rev. Jack Abel of Epworth Methodist Church in Rehoboth said, ìthe city has a moral responsibilityî to West Rehoboth. Like other people, Abel emphasized the need to organize.
One woman from the Statewide Community Housing Association said that West Rehoboth needs to formulate projects and identify potential funding and then bring that to officials, such as senators, who can actually make these plans come to fruition. Holding the government accountable without organized efforts on the neighborhood level is fruitless, she said.
ìIím okay with change,î said one West Rehoboth resident, ìbut not the change that will benefit someone else at my expense.î As per Abelís suggestion, people stayed on to exchange contact information to build relationships and organize. Reflecting on the potential for an improved neighborhood, one West Rehoboth senior citizen said, ìI think my last days should be happy ones."
West Side New Beginnings, the Lewes Rehoboth Association of Churches and the Delaware Housing Coalition sponsored the workshop, which took place Oct. 1 at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Rehoboth Beach. The workshop was attended by West Rehoboth residents, city commissioners, state senators, representatives from various businesses and organizations like Beebe Medical Center, Fanny Mae and Lingo Realty to name a few, and a plethora of pastors and deacons from around the state.
|
