Rosendale Coalition urges fair‑housing review before finalizing zoning to protect Spanish‑speaking residents

Lori Radwin, coordinator of the Rosendale Coalition, told the City Council Committee on Ways and Means on April 22 that the planning department’s public outreach in Rosendale reached an extremely small fraction of Spanish‑speaking residents and that the council should condition fair‑housing funding on completion of an impartial evaluation before finalizing zoning.

Radwin said the planning department reports more than 2,600 Rosendale residents speak Spanish at home but that documented participation in Spanish‑language planning events in her neighborhood numbered fewer than 20 people—“fewer than 1% of Rosendale's Spanish speaking population,” she said.

She argued that an impartial fair‑housing review should be funded and completed before squares and streets zoning in Rosendale and other communities is finalized, both to prevent harm to protected groups and to avoid jeopardizing external funding. Radwin said experts told her that failing to comply with accepted procedures for protected groups could risk external financing, and she noted a figure of $300,000,000 in federal funds reported to be coming to the city that could be at risk if protected‑group procedures are not followed.

Radwin asked the committee to approve funding for a fair‑housing review on the condition that the planning department complete it prior to finalizing squares and streets zoning in Rosendale and other communities.

The council will consider departmental budget requests and public testimony as it prepares for a vote on the FY26 budget on June 4.