Why White Pond development is a bad deal for Akron
Recently, the city of Akron approved plans to sell 68 acres of land it owns near White Pond and Frank Boulevard to Triton Venture Properties LLC for a large development of high-end rental townhomes, apartments and retail businesses. The land is heavily forested with areas of wetlands.
The ordinance authorizing the conditional use of the property stated it was “an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety for the reason that the mixed-use development will revitalize the largely undeveloped White Pond Office Park.”
Given the current state of low-income housing in Akron, the rampant effects of systemic racism, and the deadly climate crisis facing everyone, it is difficult to see how the emergencies alluded to in the ordinance supersede these real emergencies.
On the issue of the climate crisis, this development is an especially bad deal for Akron. The plan appears to call for clear-cutting up to 30 acres of mature trees, which would be one-third of the total number of trees lost by Akron in an entire year. According to Akron’s 2020 State of the Canopy report, the trees in this part of the city play an especially crucial role in stormwater management, air pollution capture and heat mitigation. In other words, all of us in Akron will pay a steep environmental price for this loss.
Furthermore, there was no documented requirement for the developer to compensate the city’s tree fund for the loss of trees. This will result in substantial costs to taxpayers in the future if the city intends to build back its declining tree canopy to combat climate change.
On the issue of housing, this is a bad deal for Akronites looking for affordable rental housing. Rents for the new townhomes are expected to range from $1,600 to $2,300. The generous benefits of Akron’s 15-year property tax abatement won’t go directly to the renters either, only to the developer/landowner. Given the "For Lease" signs throughout Akron — especially in the White Pond corridor and Wallhaven, it is hard to believe the city’s argument that there is an unmet need for high-end rental housing and retail in the city.
The White Pond development could also end up being a bad deal for anyone who drives through Northwest Akron, since the city has so far refused to do a traffic study to determine the impacts of several hundred additional cars per day on what we believe are already overcrowded roads.
Let’s be clear, we are not against all developments. However, developments that are done behind closed doors with no citizen input will drive away the very people that Akron is trying to keep. If Akron wants to be known as a city of powerless renters and homeowners, whose lives are ruled by the whims of developers and landlords, it is taking a big step in that direction with White Pond.
However, if this development is truly meant to serve Akron, then city officials should welcome resident input about White Pond. They should answer questions from residents in open public forums before decisions are made, not after. The city should collect and release the environmental, housing market and traffic data requested by area residents. Akronites deserve a better deal.
Meghan Lugo, Ph.D., is an assistant professor and Shelley Pearsall, M.Ed., is an author. Both are Akron residents.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: White Pond development
