Community Benefit Agreements
Forest City Ratner Corporation and several community groups release a “Community Benefits Agreement” on the proposed Brooklyn Atlantic Yards project (June 27, 2005). Read about it in the Daily News.
Check out updated and revised publication Community Benefits Agreements: Making Development Projects Accountable, from the California Partnership for Working Families with Good Jobs First and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy.
What is a CBA?
A Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) is a legally binding contract negotiated between a developer and a coalition representing broad spectrum of community members impacted by the development. In exchange for community members' support for the project, the developer agrees to provide certain benefits. Existing CBAs include provisions such as funds for affordable housing and open space, card check neutrality for workers who choose to organize unions, and living wage goals for workers employed at the development.
In order to be meaningful, a CBA must incorporate concerns from a wide variety of stakeholders that come together as one coalition, and must lead to contributions from the developer and support for the project from coalition members that would not have emerged in the absence of CBA negotiations.
LAANE's website on accountable development includes information on how Los Angeles made the most of a stadium complex in the landmark STAPLES agreement.
Or call Good Jobs New York at (212) 414-9394 or gjny@goodjobsfirst.org.
Who participates in a CBA?
Developers - to get a project through its approval process as quickly and smoothly as possible, with the public support of local stakeholders and elected officials.
Residents - to have a say in shaping the development projects in your neighborhood, to minimize the disruption they may cause, and to ensure that they contribute to the local quality of life.
Job seekers - to improve access to jobs for unemployed and under-employed people in the impacted area, and to support the inclusion of job quality standards, for example living wages, health benefits, and paid vacation.
Business owners - to give input on how best to increase local foot traffic and minimize disruptions while making sure that new-comers are not given an unfair competitive advantage over existing businesses through public subsidies that come without any strings attached.
Unions - to expand opportunities for existing members and ensure that unorganized workers can exercise their right to join a union.
City officials - to facilitate the completion of worthy projects, help craft economic development outcomes that balance the needs of city residents, businesses, and tax-payers, and encourage the types of businesses that invest - and remain - in the neighborhoods in which they locate.