Vacant apartments are seen at the former Harriet Tubman housing project on Roanoke Avenue. CHA has put the site up for sale.Any developer who takes over the former Harriet Tubman site should have to sign a community benefits agreement holding the developer accountable for hiring residents and making sure residents benefit from the development, the People’s Coalition for Affordable Housing says.
“This is a way to ensure that whatever happens to Tubman, it can directly benefit the communities involved and [those] most impacted,” said Perrin Lance, president of Chattanooga Organized for Action and liaison for the People’s Coalition.
The coalition sent the Chattanooga Housing Authority and others a packet of examples of about 20 projects across the country where community benefits agreements have been implemented successfully.
However, CHA officials say they have no intention of requiring a community benefits agreement from any developer.
That’s like selling somebody a car and then telling them what to do with it, said Eddie Holmes, CHA board chairman.