College Park restorative-justice panel urges Lakeland reparative steps, asks council to give new charge

College Park—ity—ouncil heard a detailed restorative-justice report on Oct. 7 from the city—ommission charged with examining harms tied to urban renewal in the Lakeland neighborhood and recommending steps to repair them.

The report, presented by Maxine Gross, chair of the Restorative Justice Commission, outlined a set of recommendations organized around the United Nations reparations framework nd a companion study prepared by the Braxton Institute. Gross said the commission—ound five pillars of community life in Lakeland—housing, learning, gathering, nature and connectivity—and recommended policies intended to repair and restore those pillars.

Commissioners asked the council to accept the report and to give the commission a new charge to move implementation forward. "We are asking the support of preservation and official designation of Lakeland sites of community significance, including the Lakeland High School, First Baptist Church, and Embry AME Church," commissioner Ruth Murphy said. Commissioner Karen Brown urged the community to "be open to engaging this process and thinking about how we can, in present day, try to be part of restoring, and repairing harm that was done in the past."

The commission recommended a mix of actions under five categories: restitution (including a "Lakeland Legacy" list and a right-of-first-refusal policy for properties in the former Urban Renewal District), compensation (payments for forced displacement and disruption and a Lakeland Legacy Scholars Program), rehabilitation (medical, psychological and vocational supports and expanded community-based education programs), satisfaction (memorialization, truth-telling and historic designations) and guarantees of non-repetition (reforms such as civilian oversight, a Lakeland land trust and adoption of a neighborhood plan).

Gross said the commission—xpects the city to make the full report available to the public and signaled a need for partnerships with the state, county and University of Maryland to carry out many recommendations. "Early conversations have also taken place with the University of Maryland," Gross said. "We just need that to begin the next step." Councilmembers asked for specifics on near-term priorities and timelines; commissioners identified education, land and cultural space as immediate focal points and proposed a Lakeland Legacy Council certification process with a cutoff year (1969—981) to identify legacy members.

Mayor Fazil Kebir and several councilmembers praised the commission—or the report and asked staff to prepare next steps. Councilmembers asked the commission to return with recommendations and for staff to identify where recommendations fit into the city—apital and work programs. The council directed staff to bring a related property item (a city-owned parcel in Lakeland) back for action on Oct. 21 and discussed drafting a resolution or amended commission charge to authorize the commission to proceed with implementation planning.

The presentation drew repeated questions about the scale and timing of any financial compensation and about how to ensure strong community engagement while many of the people directly affected are elderly. Commissioners said they want the city and its partners to prioritize returning access to Lakeland—eatures such as the lake, increasing owner-occupancy, creating cultural and vocational space (including ideas for the Lakeland High School site) and establishing an advisory Lakeland Legacy Council to help guide decisions.

The mayor and council did not adopt a final policy at the Oct. 7 meeting but directed staff to review the commission—indings and return with recommended actions, a proposed new charge for the commission and a timeline for council consideration before the current council leaves office.