LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Earlier this month, Louisville Metro Council unanimously passed the city's first anti-displacement ordinance.
The ordinance -- which was celebrated by groups like the Louisville Tenants Union -- was designed to protect residents from being displaced due to increasing rent in their neighborhoods. But, Mayor Craig Greenberg says he won't sign it.
On Thursday, Greenberg said the ordinance as written won't solve trends seen in neighborhood's that are "heavily impacted by gentrification."
In a letter sent to Metro Council members, the mayor wrote the ordinance could have unintended consequences -- largely driven by a lack of clarity and unrealistic timelines -- that could hurt efforts to build more affordable housing across the Metro.
"These neighborhoods are facing sharp increases in housing prices as a result of individual investors buying, renovating and reselling homes at a much higher price," he said. "The ordinance does not propose any solutions to this very real problem."
Speaking with WHAS11's Doug Proffitt on Thursday, Greenberg said he supports the goals of the ordinance, but thinks it will lead to unintended consequences.
"Metro Council and I agree that we need to continue to make investments in neighborhoods that have been overlooked for our entire lifetimes, and we need to protect residents living in fast-growing areas so they can remain in their homes and are not priced out," he said. "The challenge is that I believe, as written, this ordinance doesn't achieve those goals. In fact, it makes it harder to develop affordable housing."
Greenberg said although he can't fully back the ordinance in its current state, even without his signature it will still go into effect.
"We need to make it easier to build affordable housing across our entire city -- not harder," Greenberg wrote. "Unfortunately, this ordinance will undoubtedly delay projects and deter the construction of much-needed affordable housing."
He said his administration raised technical concerns about the ordinance that weren't resolved in the approved version.
On May 1, any housing project that receives "Metro Resources" will be required to go through an evaluation process using a displacement matrix, which has yet to be finished.
The mayor said the matrix would essentially "predict possible displacement given all the potential types and locations of affordable housing projects" -- but this is a complex task, and one he isn't sure can be completed in six months. However, without that evaluation process, any housing project that receives funding from Metro Government can't move forward.
"No city is using this kind of matrix, as one-size-fits-all solutions are rarely effective at preventing displacement," Greenberg said. "Any delay, particularly during a time of high interest rates, will impact the financial feasibility of any project and will certainly deter affordable housing builders from pursuing new projects in Louisville."
Councilman Jecorey Arthur, I–District 4, disputed that claim, saying the city of Boston implemented a similar index, previously.
Arthur co-sponsored the anti-displacement ordinance.
"It was six months," Arthur said. "If that's fast, then I'm not sure what world [Greenberg's] living in, but I live in Louisville, Kentucky, where people are struggling to pay their rent, people are struggling to survive in the neighborhoods they call home."
Greenberg criticized the timeline for which the ordinance ultimately passed, saying the original legislative proposal turned out much different than the final draft passed in council.
"We made some of our concerns known during this entire process ... the ordinance that passed went very quickly," he said. "So this is the process. We're making our voice known."
The mayor also criticized the use of the term "Metro Resources", saying the term is too broad and could cause additional delays. As written, the term includes public funding and publicly owned land.
Josh Poe with the Louisville Tenants Union, the group that championed the ordinance, said what Greenberg sees as delays, his organization sees as needed due diligence.
"Yeah, it's gonna' scare the developers who are trying to get our resources to build housing that most of us can't afford," Poe said. "I think him not signing the ordinance makes it very clear what interest he represents in the city. And I hope that people will, the city will remember that."
Greenberg added that there are also no clear exemptions for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which falls under the term right now, nor the Louisville Landbank Authority.
"We need to speed up, not slow down, the process of returning these [abandoned] properties to neighborhood families so they are not acquired by outside investors," Greenberg said.
Despite his concerns about the anti-displacement ordinance's current state, Greenberg said he's looking forward to continue working with the council on finding data driven solutions to Louisville's affordable housing crisis.
"Some of our peer cities are using data to inform policy decisions and strategies that will help stabilize fast-growing neighborhoods, while still increasing their affordable housing supply. Let's pursue similar initiatives," he wrote. "We need significant public and private investment into neighborhoods that have suffered from disinvestment for generations. And we need to protect and support neighbors who are at risk of displacement."
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