New group wants voice in plans for West Side

Andrew Glazer

WEST SIDE -- Frustrated homeowners here, feeling ignored by planners

strategizing about how to improve the neighborhood, formed a grass-roots

association last week.

“Most people are upset because they’ve been totally overlooked,” said

Janice G. Davidson, co-chairperson of the Westside Improvement Assn. “The

city said they’ve notified everybody, but that’s not true. My whole

neighborhood wasn’t told about the meetings.”

The city-hired consultants, EIP Associates, held several public meetings

last year. During the meetings, residents suggested how the city could

improve the neighborhood’s traffic, crime and trash problems.

The consultants released a draft plan earlier this month, based on the

community and City Council input they gathered. The plan suggests

converting a portion of the neighborhood into a pedestrian-friendly

shopping area.

But members of the Westside Improvement Assn. said they aren’t satisfied

with the draft. They said the city should instead focus on enforcing the

city’s trash and apartment regulations. And its founders said the city

should tear down the neighborhood’s high-density apartments and replace

them with single-family homes.

“I don’t think the city should have a problem displacing people to make

it a good city,” said Eric Bever, the group’s co-founder.

Bever and Davidson said a group of Latino business leaders and community

activists -- the Latino Advisory Committee -- had a disproportionate

amount of influence in the plan.

“The Latino Advisory Group represents mostly tenants -- not homeowners --

who don’t have a vested interest in the neighborhood,” Bever said.

The Latino Advisory Group formed last year after West Side Latinos felt

they also had been left out of the planning process.

“No one invited us to form a group,” said Manfredo Lespier, a member of

the Latino Advisory Committee. “But if you feel so strong about the

neighborhood, why wait until someone invites you?”