Tenants rally after being forced to move from Highlands apartment
Tenants who will soon be displaced from the Yorktown Apartments on Grinstead Drive rallied on Wednesday, demanding to talk to the school that is proposing the demolition of their homes.
Louisville Collegiate School has owned the property since 2015 and is planning to turn the land into a parking lot. During a meeting in November, school officials said increased enrollment has made traffic congestion in the area a safety hazard. They also cite the three buildings included in the demolition project as being in a state of disrepair and unusable for habitation.
In a notice, residents were offered a two-month extension to vacate, $1,500 in rental assistance, and will get their full security deposit back. Collegiate is also extending the relocation deadline to the spring and providing renters with a social worker through LDG for support.
“It might seem like an extension of an olive branch for Collegiate to move you somewhere else, [but] the rent is too damn high everywhere,” said Attica Scott, a former Kentucky representative.
Organizers from the Louisville Tenants Union say the offerings are not enough for tenants on a fixed income in a city short more than 30,000 affordable housing units.
“This is not just a housing issue, this is a public health issue,” said Jasmine Harris, of the tenant’s union. “People everywhere deserve to live in homes where they can walk to meet their basic needs.”
The tenants now have specific demands for Collegiate and are requesting to meet with them to discuss it.
They include:
- Help residents find another apartment within 2 miles of Yorktown.
- Cover moving costs of all residents
- Stop any plans for demolition until the complex is totally vacant, (i.e. no hard deadline for tenants to move or face eviction)
- Cover the increase in rent for residents for a year after they move
“We want the sit down so we can negotiate what we need in order to move,” said Pat McCarthy, a tenant of Yorktown Apartments. “We're not going to stop this from becoming a parking lot, but if we can just get a conversation with them to hear us out, maybe they would negotiate with us.”
Community supporters, who say the renters' demands are not unreasonable, agree that the school should take the time to meet with the people they are forcing from their homes.
“You don't know what it's like, that's why you come here and listen to these residents, and you do what they're demanding you to do,” said Shameka Parrish Wright, executive director of VOCAL Kentucky. “If you are an institution of learning, the best thing you can do for your students is show them that you are responsible to everyone in this community; this is their community too, they belong to the Highlands.”
There was a hearing scheduled for Wednesday on the proposed parking lot, but it was canceled due to a misprint on the notice that was mailed out, according to school officials. There are plans for it to be rescheduled.