Angry residents disrupt a Pawtucket Planning Commission meeting over Morley Field
“You’re shameful! I have never seen a government that is so blatantly ignorant, racist, and ineffectual. It’s appalling! Shame on you! Shame, shame, shame on you!”
Tuesday’s meeting of the Pawtucket Planning Commission became contentious when the nearly 70 people who showed up to speak out against the sale of Morley Field to out-of-state developer J.K. Equities were denied the ability to address commission members. At issue is a second extension of J.K. Equities’ contract to acquire Morley Field, the only large green space in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Pawtucket, and pave it into a parking lot. Woodlawn residents and environmentalists, united as “Save Morley Field,” see the sale as a textbook case of environmental racism.
The Commission voted, 5-2, to continue the matter rather than deal with it at the meeting because no representative of J.K. Equities showed up. The 70 or so members of the public who bothered to show up—driving through rush hour traffic, changing dinner plans, and arranging child care, among other sacrifices—were told they would not be allowed to speak to the Commission.
The Commission kept citing fake rules, such as not allowing public comment if the applicant was not present or that they lacked the authority to vote against the contract extension, essentially saying the Commission members had no choice but to vote for it.
“If the extension is already happening,” Commission member Adam Greenman asked, “What were we even asked to vote on? If they already had the extension, what were they asking us to approve or deny? Because it feels like, if they already got it, what are we even doing here?”
“No, that’s not the case,” said Jason Pezzullo, the Director of Commerce for the City of Pawtucket, winding up to provide a long non-answer. “Uh, this is a - Preliminary approval was approved in 2022, so it’s good for two years, then they have two one-year extensions that are by-right, under state law.
“These are usually presented as an update by the developer and the Planning Commission on where the project stands. These are very pro forma reviews; they are absolutely not unwindings of approvals. You cannot deny a project through this extension of time process.
“So they’re within the timeframe to request their second one-year extension, and as I said earlier, they need to appear before this Commission before, you know, August of next year, to get that extension. [The extension they already have?] However, the time is winding down on that extension. They’re not going to extend it another 12 months after that vote. So, when the applicant’s ready to be heard, they can have a discussion within that time frame. But they’re not here. So that’s why we’re going to table it until they get back here, instead of continuing it month to month, which is not productive for anyone.”
“Can we testify so you at least hear us?” Gregg Gerritt asked from his seat in the audience.
“There’s no discussion on a postponed and tabled item as the applicant is not present,” said the woman running the meeting. In truth, the board could have allowed public comment.
“But the public is!” protested Gerritt. “We came here for this meeting; we would like to at least address you.”
“With the applicant not being present, and the item tabled, we can not take comments from the public.”
Bullshit.
The item was properly noticed on the agenda. The applicant’s failure to appear does not mean that the Commission could not hear from the members of the public who showed up to testify. Regarding the Commission’s inability to vote “no,” it turns out that two members did. They broke no laws or rules in doing so. If the majority of the board voted no, and the applicant had some legal claim to make, it’s simple for the applicant to go to court to enforce the contractual obligation. No member of any board is compelled to vote a certain way. If they were, why, as Commission member Greenman asked and Director Pezzullo failed to answer, would a vote be necessary?
Denied the right to testify, those in attendance spoke up anyway. Loudly.
Here’s the video:
“I came here after an acute stroke, and I managed to get here just to here because I believe that children have a right to a park in which to play and their families have a place to gather.
“You’re shameful! I have never seen a government that is so blatantly ignorant, racist, and ineffectual. It’s appalling!
“Shame on you! Shame, shame, shame on you!”
Before the meeting, the Friends of Morley Field held a press conference.
Clovis Gregor, District 5 City Councilmember: This is a crucial issue for our community and the children of Woodlawn, who have no green space and no recreational planning resources other than Morley Field. The idea that it should be taken away from them to please an out-of-state developer who needs a commercial parking lot - and not just a parking lot, but also use Morley as a dump site for highly toxic dirt, soil, debris, and everything else from the build site. They’re developing One Moshassuck Road next to Morley, then they will cap it and pave it over.
The entire thing is indecent. It’s a morally reprehensible and - I don’t see anything other than saying it’s inherently racist.
We’re here to press the Pawtucket Planning Commission regarding J.K. Equity’s second one-year request to extend their plan to pave over Morley Field. The other would be for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) to reopen Morley Field and properly rehabilitate it for the community.
State Representative Jennifer Stewart: We’re state reps, and like everyone here today, we value parks and people over parking lots.
State Representative Cherie Cruz: The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management adopted an Environmental Justice Policy back in 2023. They fought hard and highlighted being proud of passing this policy right. Activists had addressed the past and present harms of actions that disproportionately hurt low-income communities like Woodlawn, with many Black and brown residents being impacted. Those same neighborhoods have been and are exposed to more pollution and experience more related health effects like asthma and cancer. Yet we see this park being paved even though Woodlawn has fewer trees and parks than the wealthier parts of Pawtucket.
Representative Stewart: The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s Environmental Justice Policy was written to address the burdens experienced by neighborhoods whose problems were not addressed by city governments. It was written for communities like Woodlawn. Morley Field is located in the House District I represent, and we both represent parts of Woodlawn.
Representative Cruz: My brothers and I grew up in Woodlawn, and I remember my brothers playing football and baseball at Morley in the late seventies and the eighties. That’s why it was put there. That’s why it was donated. That’s why the National Park Service donated funds - because that was a community that, 50 years ago, needed that space for kids. Three generations needed that space, from my siblings to my kids, to my granddaughter. It’s so unfortunate that this is happening, that they’re paving the field for a parking lot.
Representative Stewart: So, as State Representatives, we are here today to say to our state’s Department of Environmental Management: Uphold your commitment to environmental justice.
Representative Cruz: Uphold your obligation to include environmental justice in your work to protect, restore, manage, and promote Rhode Island’s environment and to preserve and improve the quality of life for all its people here in Pawtucket.
Representative Stewart: Help the people of Pawtucket’s Woodlawn Neighborhood keep Morley Field as intended: To provide an active playing field to a long underserved and under-resourced part of Pawtucket.
Representative Cruz: The city long ago failed to provide and maintain green space. That resulted in Morley Field being gifted to the community, because we always knew it was needed. The fact that the city neglected, closed, and locked our children out of this green space is extremely frustrating and needs to stop. Decades later, we see this failure, and you know what? It’s a convenient target for a private developer to build a parking lot. The city is giving this private developer a 20-year tax stabilization agreement and removing the kids’ only field. It’s not right. It’s wrong.
Representative Stewart: For the last three years, the consequence has been denying residents access to a park in their community. We need the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to deny the application to convert Morley Field and refuse to facilitate its sale to J.K. Equities.
Representative Cruz: We don’t need more talk about an environmental justice policy. We need you to act on that policy.
Elizabeth Souza: I’m not a native Rhode Islander, but have become one. I moved here on January 1st, 1997, as a single mom with three children under 18. Two of them went to Slater Middle School, the other went straight to Shea, and the other two followed in her footsteps and graduated from Shea High School. All of them were high honor students.
When my son was small and wasn’t at home, I knew of two places where he would be. One was playing with Amma’s boys in the back of her store. The other was playing at Morley Field. Many of the neighborhood kids at that time would come home with buckets filled with tadpoles. Once in a while, they found gator snakes. They were in awe of the osprey flying around and nesting at Morley.
It was also placed for us kids. For us kids - excuse me, I still feel young - we would play impromptu baseball, try to fly a kite, or, during a snowstorm, it was great to cross over into Shaw’s parking lot without having to go up the street and around. We would cut through Morley. The kids had a great time. My grandkids came along because now my kids are older.
In 2022, it was surprising to see the locks on the gates and cop cars on either side of the gate to Morley Field, guarding against trespassers. Nowadays, it is infested with rats. Every day, on any surrounding streets near Morley, you’ll see dead rats and rats scurrying around because Morley Field is a jungle. It’s very sad and horrible to look at.
The other day, I noticed the sign that says “no trespassing” and “under development.” Under development of what? My question, and I’m keeping my temper low, biting my tongue - I asked the city and Mayor Grebien: You just bought 14.2 acres in the area of Max Read. Why didn’t you use that money to fix Morley Field? Why don’t you take some of that money and hire some of the homeless people that hang around that area, give them the dignity of working, and make Morley Field clean and looking better?
I don’t intend to move. My grandkids come over, and it’s very hard to explain to them, “No, you can’t go down to the field because it’s locked up.” Let’s do something about that. I reviewed the YouTube recordings of the City Council meetings where the developer’s representative stated that they don’t need Morley Field and that their building is a standalone. Then why the heck don’t we open up the field?
John Santos: I’m a lifelong resident of Pawtucket Ward 5. I was at that field when it first came into existence. That field was where all the youth of our community went and played. I played youth football and Little League baseball there. Later, with the city’s approval, we brought a youth football organization to the field. What’s going on right now is almost an embarrassment. When I talk to anybody in the state or anywhere I go, I tell them what’s going on, that they’re going to take green space, limited green space, from the kids of this community, and pave it over with a parking lot. People look at me and laugh. They say, “How could that be?” I had a lot of trust in my government, and I still trust my government, but I just would never have thought that we would be in the situation we’re in right now. I didn’t think you could get a room full of adults to look at a park, a place for kids, and take that away and pave it with asphalt. To me, it’s embarrassing. If you’re a council member and you voted for this proposal, you should be embarrassed.
Elizabeth Souza: Shame.
John Santos: Shame. You should be embarrassed. I’m not doing this for adults like me. I’m not an environmentalist or a politician. I’m here representing the kids of this community. That field, for me, was very important and had a lot to do with my upbringing and social skills, especially being a minority in the seventies. It allowed me and others to mix with people of different nationalities and races. So like I said, it’s an embarrassment. You should be embarrassed if you voted for this and are on the council. Nobody I’ve talked to has ever said, “Yeah, I think this is a good idea.”
Try to do this in the beautiful Town of Cumberland. They’ve got green spaces all over the place. Go to Cumberland and try to take one of the green spaces. Go down to North Kingston. Again, it’s all green. They have a multitude of green spaces. Try to take one of their green spaces and see what happens, because it won’t happen. You know why? Because they’re informed, they know their rights and are willing to stand there for them. Here, we’ve got to get informed. We have to know our rights, and they have to know that this will not happen.
Adam Greenman, Candidate for Mayor and Planning Commission member: We’ve had two state representatives and a city councilor for the district talking about this issue. This speaks to the fact that nobody’s listening. The city government needs to listen to these folks. For the last three months, I’ve been going around this city talking to folks - listening and hearing what they’re looking for.
They’re looking for green space, a place for their kids to play, better education, and a better vision for our city and economic development.
All the reasons people have shared to save Morley Field are absolutely valid. But the biggest reason is that there’s no vision here. This is a perfect example of a developer coming in, making political donations, and asking to have something placed here, and the city is throwing everything it can at them.
This is a bad deal for our city, our kids, and the residents of that neighborhood for a whole host of reasons. I urge our government officials to reconsider this. As a member of the Planning Commission, I certainly am. I’m grateful to all these advocates for their support and for raising their voices. Let’s hope that more people are willing to listen.
Monica Teixeira de Sousa, a Roger Williams University School of Law professor: I’m here tonight because I grew up in this community in the eighties. My parents worked in local factories, and I was part of a tight-knit Cape Verian community. I have so many wonderful memories of growing up here. But I have to tell you, firsthand, that there were very few green spaces or places to play.
I’m here with a modest request for the planning commission, city council, and mayor: Preserve Morley Field as a park. We’re not asking for something new to be built. We’re asking to save and maintain what we have for future generations of kids in this community.
Woodlawn is a place where many of the houses don’t have backyards. Walking around Woodlawn, we know that much of the surface area is paved. In 2016, an article in the Providence Journal described Woodlawn as one of the sections of Pawtucket that was divided by Route 95 in the early 1960s. When we look at this across generations, we see that this neighborhood has been targeted for some of the negative consequences of development. Let’s not let those same mistakes be repeated.
We know that kids in this neighborhood often have to cross high-traffic streets. They’re walking past industrial areas, they’re playing in parking lots, they’re crossing over the freeway, and they’re far removed from many of the amenities that we know their wealthier counterparts in other communities almost take for granted - and there’s a lot of data to support that.
We should be making these green spaces available and accessible to our kids regardless of their socioeconomic background, race, or ethnicity. Some data show that people with more access to green environments, such as parks, are more physically active than those with limited access. There’s also a beneficial association between green space exposure and children’s emotional and behavioral health. This is an environmental justice issue. We know that this is a historically diverse community. It’s an entry point for new arrivals to the United States. We have people in this community who work really hard. Oftentimes, they’re not getting a lot of money for that hard work, but their kids have big dreams. We can attest to that.
We ask that they listen to past and current residents of this community and keep this space open. This is a public resource, and if we steward it wisely, we can keep it forever. I hope our city officials won’t fall prey to thinking that we must cater to business interests because we in Pawtucket know those interests don’t stick around.
A lot of us grew up with our parents working in factories that are no longer here, like Schoolhouse Candy. We can go through the list. Most recently, Hasbro is leaving. We walk past many places, saying, “That’s where the Sox used to play,” and “That’s where Memorial Hospital used to be.” We are here tonight to say, “Don’t let that happen to Morley Field.”
Councilmember Gregor: The only other concern I have is that J.K. Equities has executed a deal with the Quonsett Development Corporation and the Governor’s Department of Commerce. Now, the state has proprietary rights to One Moshassuck Road. My concern, and I’m hoping it’s not the case, is that the only reason Rhode Island Commerce got involved is to find an end run or back way to get the gifted lot.
To explain: Morley Field occupies two lots. One lot was given to the city as a gift, and must, as a condition of accepting the land, remain a park in perpetuity. The neighboring land that makes up the rest of Morley Field was purchased, in part, with funds provided by the National Park Service. The Park Service also contributed money to build Morley Field. Under the condition of accepting federal funds, Morley Field can not be sold or closed unless a new field of equal or greater size is built to replace it. Pawtucket made an effort to purchase some land, but it is located in a neighboring, more well-to-do neighborhood with plentiful, pre-existing green space.
Councilmember Gregor: The gifted lot is statutorily protected. Rhode Island law says explicitly that land given to the public cannot be sold. The mayor and this administration never revealed to the council or the planning commission that one of the lots was gifted and couldn’t be sold. After the community took the city to task, they had to concede that they couldn’t sell the gifted lot, so they executed a subsequent sales agreement to sell just the lot that is not gifted.
However, it seems like their intention has always been contrary to what they’ve suggested because they first tried to have Moley Field declared as the site of a rubber manufacturing company that burned down in 2020. The actual company burned down in Woonsocket. The city apparently submitted a Brownfield assessment application for that purpose. As soon as we found out about it, we notified the DEM and EPA.
Once they got hold of that, the EPA rescinded the application, saying, “No, we’re not doing this.” It was a flat-out misrepresentation.
We believe that RI Commerce, via its condemnation power, may be able to supersede the statutory protection allocated to the gifted lot since they are now interested in One Moshassuk Street. If One Moshassuck Road needs the gifted lot, they could technically do a condemnation. It’s reprehensible, dirty, underhanded, and reflective of what this administration has done to the City of Pawtucket, particularly the Woodlawn area. They have taken too many parks already. Laurel Hill Park, which existed in the Woodlawn area and was funded by the National Park Service and the Land and Water Conservation Fund, is gone. They did what they do: Neglect it and eventually dismantle it, saying, “It’s not being used.” Then, they expropriate the land, illegally, for private interests. They did that with Newell Avenue, which also had a basketball court and a playground for the kids in Woodlawn.
If they’re successful in taking Morley Field, we will be left with Paine Park, which is not a green space. It’s a basketball court with a little playground next to it. I hope that Governor McKee and his Department of Commerce will not stoop to such levels and aid the inherently racist land proposal that’s being done by J.K. Equities, especially in terms of taking Morley Field from the children.
Here’s the video:
Thank you to Reps Stewart and Cruz, Councilperson Gregor and others for speaking out in favor of Morley field. Thank you to all those who attended this meeting! Everyone's efforts are greatly appreciated. This whole debacle is ridiculous and unnecessary! Restore this important greenspce and open Morley Field to the people of Pawtucket!
Thank you Steve for keeping the spotlight on the criminality of the government of Pawtucket and the outrageous racism they demonstrate daily. The fact that the plans are already obsolete due to the stupidity of the government of RI and the developer, makes this even more of an obscenity. pawtucket wants jobs, but within a few years all the jobs they think they are getting will be done by robots and self driving trucks, so they will never need the parking lot. If they need to collect rainwater, they should put it UNDER the park and rebuild the park. closing the park is stupid. There is alreaady more housing planned for the area aned a swchool. People need a placeto run and jump and play.