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Residents and union rep say EIFD boundary redraw erases neighborhood voice, demand 25% affordable units
Summary
Multiple Railyards residents and a Unite Here Local 49 representative told the board the EIFD boundary was redrawn to exclude residents, criticized a proposed $120 million billboard-lease revenue deal, and urged a return to previous boundaries plus 25% affordable housing and anti-eviction protections.
During the public hearing for the Railyards EIFD annual report, several residents said the district map had been redrawn to remove residential voices and shift influence toward property owners. Nancy Williams said residents had been "cut out" and repeated a direct financial concern: "we are against the 120,000,000 30 year lease giveaway of billboard revenue."
Sonia Carabell, who identified herself as with Unite Here Local 49, told the board the removal of the Wong Center and the AJ from the EIFD boundaries amounted to erasing residents: "You're cutting out the residents so that only the property owners will have a say, and those are the same entities that stand to gain millions from this subsidy." She asked the board to return district boundaries to include community anchors and to consider demands for 25% affordable housing, an anti-eviction fund and a grocery store.
Other commenters raised the same themes: Richard Valdez and John Starnes described a loss of voice for residents, cited the project's low proportion of affordable housing (commenters said the plan was 6% affordable of a 10,000-unit project) and warned of gentrification pressures from rising property values.
Board members did not debate specific lease terms in the hearing; commenters asked staff and the board to re-engage residents before approvals proceed.
