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African American Redress Network presents restorative justice report for Lakeland; council to study recommendations
Summary
The African American Redress Network presented a staff report documenting historical harms from Lakeland'area urban renewal, estimated average homeowner wealth loss, and a menu of policy proposals — including compensation, a Return-to-Lakeland program, lake access projects, energy pilots, a transit pass, and scholarships — that the City Council accepted for further study.
The African American Redress Network (AARN) presented "Restorative Justice for Lakeland," a staff report to the City of College Park Council on July 8 that documents historical harms from urban renewal and lays out specific reparative policy proposals. AARN researchers told the council their six-month study combined archival research, field work and community workshops to produce a database of affected properties, an impact analysis and draft policy pathways.
AARN lead researcher Jessia told the council that archival appraisals and deeds showed frequent discrepancies between acquisition prices recorded in deeds and contemporaneous fair-market appraisals. "In many cases the acquisition price in the deed was $10 while the appraiser valued parcels in the tens of thousands of dollars," the team said, and recommended the city investigate compensating affected owners or heirs for the difference between paid prices and historical market values.
Kayla Edward Scott, who led the impact analysis, said the group calculated an average unrealized wealth differential of $193,620.72 per displaced Lakeland homeowner (comparing a 1975 average home price of $45,000 with a 2024 estimated $456,000). She stressed those figures come from sample analyses and urged the city to expand the dataset and outreach to descendants before adopting an exact compensation formula.
The report groups policy proposals under four pillars: housing, connectivity, nature and learning. Among the proposals: a "Return-to-Lakeland" program that would maintain a database of displaced residents, offer right-of-first-refusal incentives and host monthly town-hall reconnection sessions; restoring access to Lake Artemisia by building a pedestrian bridge (AARN estimated $1'$2 million) or replacing wall sections with reinforced glass ($100,000'$500,000); a net-metering and residential clean-energy pilot that pairs federal tax incentives with local cost-sharing; a Lakeland transit pass for free or reduced fares; and partnerships with the University of Maryland for scholarship slots or phased cohorts of Lakeland scholars.
AARN framed the proposals as a continuum: short-term, low-cost actions (resolutions, community outreach, steering committees and pilot programs) would be paired with longer-term, higher-cost options requiring regional or federal funding. The report notes the city was one of several actors involved historically, including HUD, county and state agencies, and it recommended multi-jurisdictional collaboration for large-budget items.
Council members thanked the research team and Lakeland residents involved in the process. Several members praised the report's depth and community engagement; others cautioned about scale and funding. Councilmember Wake contrasted a small-city budget with an illustrative compensation total, noting the city's general fund and recurring obligations and urging the council to prioritize achievable steps while pursuing broader support from county, state and federal partners.
City staff told the council the presentation did not require a formal vote; council members signaled acceptance of the report for consideration and directed staff to work with the restorative justice commission and AARN on next steps and continued outreach.
The city manager and staff will return to the council with process details and recommended next steps for specific proposals, including steering-committee scopes, timelines and potential funding sources. The council and staff repeatedly emphasized that further investigation, community outreach and intergovernmental coordination are required before any financial remedies or major capital projects proceed.
