The Grace Seventh-Day Adventist Church was given no notice from the West End Civic Association or the City of Hartford about this morning’s meeting regarding the food pantry that is run out of the site on Prospect Avenue across from Elizabeth Park and on the next block from the Governor’s mansion, but due to outreach from concerned residents, church representatives and supporters learned about the session.
Not long before the meeting began, WECA issued an official position on this “issue”:
Though some WECA members abstained from voting on the matter, this continued to be put forward as the neighborhood organization’s stance. Those familiar with this neighborhood know that there is a social divide for some, with Farmington Avenue as the separation between more affluent homes (north) and rental units and less expensive properties (south). Some residents have suggested that this push to enforce zoning is a way to relocate the food pantry to what some consider a less desirable part of the neighborhood. As previously noted here and at the meeting, the park generates far more traffic and parking concerns than the food pantry, which operates only one day a week and during off-peak traffic hours.
Following the meeting, WECA presented another message:
If you would like more details on this morning’s discussion, read the article on Greater Hartford Real Estate Blog.
Justin
guy in the real estate blog write-up mentions having photos to prove that the pantry blocks folks who use wheelchairs and ambulances…not sure what that looks like in that neighborhood, but outside my window every night the traffic sewer that is farmington fills up with motorists heading to and from the west end, west hartford and points beyond, and they block pedestrians, people who use wheelchairs, ambulances, cyclists, and other motorists from getting where they need to go. every single night. who and what counts as mere ‘traffic’? versus who and what counts as an ‘inconvenient hoard’?
Chris
It is absurd to deny people the right to food during hard times. If WECA was to take the same NIMBYism position on public housing they would have to evict the governor from the highest price tag pubic housing unit in the state.
Jim
“I paid a lot for this house. Keep the poor people away” is the mantra of suburbia (and the purpose of exclusionary zoning). There are plenty of places that welcome such an outlook, but it shouldn’t be what we do in Hartford.