Forest View residents reach agreement with land owners and developers

Last Monday, City Council members heard concerns from Forest View residents regarding future land developments where their homes currently sit. With these concerns — of community displacement, financial burdens, and the immoveable state of a majority of the trailer homes — came a list of demands. Residents requested an end to intimidation tactics exercised by property owners, disclosure of detailed plans for Forest View and a seat at the table with North Dubuque LLC and Blackbird Investments throughout the process of development.

The efforts of Forest View residents and their allies resulted in several agreements.

According to a joint statement from the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, Blackbird Investments, and North Dubuque LLC, “a delegation of Forest View residents, elected officials, and community allies met with Forest View property owners and developers on June 10.” The initial, unexplained eviction notice for community organizer Marcela Hurtado and the need for transparency and communication between the residents, owners, and developers was discussed.

Regarding the Hurtado family, the “property owners expressed regret for the 60-day eviction notice” and “offered to allow the family to stay in its home at Forest View.” But the family had already relocated — in response to the notice — to another part of town by the time the offer was made. Property owners then agreed to “reimburse the family for the financial costs related to their relocation.”

The meeting ended with an agreement by all parties that residents have the right to “communicate freely with each other, with the public, and with property owners about their ideas and concerns relating to the development” and a pledge to “meet regularly to promote a Forest View development process that can protect and serve the interests” of everyone involved.