A city-appointed committee in October urged the College Park City Council to address the harm done to the Lakeland neighborhood during urban renewal in the 1970s and 80s by offering financial compensation, housing priority and free college tuition.
The 20-member Restorative Justice Commission, which the council established in 2022, also recommended creating a designation called Lakeland Legacy Members for those who lived in Lakeland for at least 10 years from 1969 to 1981, or for their direct descendants. These people would be the primary recipients of the proposed restorative measures, commission member Ruth Murphy said.
“When you talk to people who experienced Lakeland before urban renewal, they speak of a vibrant community,” Maxine Gross, the chair of the commission, said. “A place for caring people who work together to meet everyone’s needs.”
The recommendations stem from a period of urban renewal from 1969 to 1981 that displaced most Lakeland residents and demolished their homes and businesses. While College Park gained a new elementary school, student housing and an increased tax base, the people of Lakeland were left without a community.
Commission members Karin Brown and Murphy said the panel is calling on the city, county and state governments and the University of Maryland (UMD), among others, to help carry out their recommendations.
Part of the Oct. 7 presentation to the city council focused on how to return former residents to Lakeland. Brown suggested adopting a right of first refusal policy for real estate within Lakeland’s borders, giving former residents who wish to buy property in the neighborhood first choice for any home that goes on the market.
Brown said committee members want to increase the percentage of owner-occupied homes in Lakeland to greater than 40%. Statewide, 71% of homes are owner-occupied.
The committee also asked the city to compensate Lakelanders who were forced out of their homes—even if they did not own them—during urban renewal.
Another proposal would establish a Lakeland Legacy Scholars Program to offer free tuition for legacy members to any of the University System of Maryland’s 12 universities.
In addition, Murphy said a “community-based supplemental education program” should be created and housed at the historic Lakeland High School site. According to the commission’s report, the program would offer remedial education for K-12 students, along with vocational, life skills and cultural education to residents and legacy members.
While the council did not vote at the meeting, Mayor Fazlul Kabir said city staff will help the commission identify what action the city can take to help meet the community’s goals.
Mayor Pro Tem Denise Mitchell (District 4) said she wants to allocate time at a future meeting to discuss the recommendations of the commission.
Councilmember John Rigg (District 3) said while he supports this effort, the harm occurred many years ago. He said he wants to prioritize actions that the city can take now as opposed to those that will take years to complete.
Councilmember Llatetra Brown Esters (District 2) said she and Councilmember Susan Whitney (District 2) are committed to moving the project forward before their council terms end in December. Neither ran for re-election in early November.
“So I don’t want us to think about this as something as … this long past history,” Whitney said. “This is still now, and this is something we need to address.”