Benjamin Evans: It's time to stand up for Pawtucket

"As Pawtucket’s Planning Commissioners, you can chart a different course, beginning with denying J.K. Equities’ second request for an extension of their preliminary plan to pave Morley Field."

Benjamin Evans

Dear Senior City Planner Pettinato and Pawtucket Planning Commission members,

I was surprised to see on your agenda for August 19th that J.K. Equities is still seeking to pave all of Morley Field to make a parking lot. Then they apparently asked that their request not be heard until September 16th, raising more questions.

At the Pawtucket City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 6th, Mr. Jerry Karlick stated on the record, “We are building this building as a standalone building,” referring to his proposed trucking depot. “It’s got nothing to do with Morley Field,” he continued.

Mr. Karlick later told our City Council, “I’m not doing anything right now in Morley Field.” He continued, "I don’t own Morley Field. I’m not doing anything in Morley Field. I’m building a 157,000 square foot warehouse, and that’s all I’m committed to doing now.”

J.K. Equities’ continued pursuit of Morley Field is also surprising given that there are two legal obstacles to the attempted appropriation of Woodlawn’s only large green space.

First, Lot 309 was purchased for the people of Pawtucket with funding from the National Park Service’s Land & Water Conservation Fund for perpetual public use as a recreational green space. It can only be sold to J.K. Equities if federal regulations are followed, including 36 CFR § 59.3 and section 6(f)(3) of the Land & Water Conservation Fund Assistance Act.

Second, Lot 291 was gifted to the people of Pawtucket for the specific purpose of being maintained as a youth recreational field named the “William H. Morley Memorial Field.” Rhode Island General Laws § 45-2-6 states, without exception, that land acquired by gift for public use, “is not subject to disposition." Rhode Island law prohibits the sale of Morley Field.

Moreover, both Lot 291 (which cannot be sold per Rhode Island law) and Lot 309 (which cannot be sold without complying with federal regulations) were always one unified park, and should not be sold off separately.

Again and again, at City Council meetings, rallies and demonstrations, and in op-eds and letters to the editor, the people of Pawtucket have demanded that our government comply with the law and not sell off even part of Morley Field.

As many have pointed out, paving the only large green space in a densely populated, majority people of color neighborhood like Woodlawn, while investing millions in the majority white, wealthy neighborhood of Oak Hill, is an example of environmental racism.

Members of the Pawtucket Planning Commission, now is the time for you to stand up for the people of Pawtucket. Now is the time to tell these New York real estate speculators that their second request for an extension of their preliminary plan to pave Morley Field is denied.

Mr. Karlick may claim that his warehouse scheme will bring jobs to Pawtucket, but that claim is no more credible than his claim on August 6th to our City Council that he doesn’t aim to pave Morley Field.

J.K. Equities still hasn’t found a tenant for their trucking depot, and, given current economic trends, the project’s viability is in doubt. Any economic analysis done at the outset of the proposed development is three years out of date. An economic downturn may reduce the demand for the depot. Increased automation may shrink the potential for jobs. Moreover, even if jobs were created, what type of jobs would they be? Workers at both Amazon’s Fulfillment Center in Johnston and the DHL Express ServicePoint in Pawtucket recently had to strike to win adequate working conditions and benefits.

Moreover, the intersection of Main Street, Moshassuck Street, Carver Street, and West Avenue, just north of the border with Providence, could be an attractive gateway to Pawtucket. Instead, J.K. Equities’ plan would increase air and noise pollution and traffic congestion, undermining Providence’s North Main Street Corridor Revitalization plans. Unlike Providence’s efforts to redesign North Main Street to be greener and more pedestrian-friendly, this development does the opposite by bringing in polluting trucks and dangerous streets, and paving our green space.

Even worse, the proposed location is across from 1080 Main Street, the new home of the Segue Institute for Learning, a charter high school for 400 students. J.K. Equities’ plan calls for commercial tractor-trailers to travel past the school 24/7, between I-95 and the trucking depot, endangering students and neighbors.

As Pawtucket’s Planning Commissioners, you can chart a different course, beginning with denying J.K. Equities’ second request for an extension of their preliminary plan to pave Morley Field.

It’s time to stand up for Pawtucket.