The Community Benefits Movement and CBAs
Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs) — deals between developers and coalitions of community organizations, addressing a broad range of community needs — are safeguards to ensure that affected residents share in the benefits of major developments. They allow community groups to have a voice in shaping a project, to press for community benefits that are tailored to their particular needs, and to enforce developer’s promises. CBAs are only one aspect of a growing new movement towards community benefits in land-use planning, taking shape through labor-community partnerships around the country. We have updated and revised this publication to share our experience in implementing some of the CBAs described in the original edition.
We have added extensive material in this preface on the community benefits movement; a new chapter describing implementation of the landmark CBA for the Staples development in Los Angeles; a new appendix listing past CBAs; a new appendix describing some current community benefits campaigns; and several new sections on legal issues, community benefits victories, and new approaches.We have also included an overview of the recent CBA for the Los Angeles International Airport, providing for community benefits valued at over half a billion dollars, and a special section on unusual legal aspects of this CBA.
Download Community Benefits Agreements: Making Development Projects Accountable
Learn more about CBAs
To learn more about CBAs in action, read this January 2014 article from Yes! Magazine: After 20-Year Fight, Bronx Community Wins Big on Development Project Committed to Living Wages and Local Economy
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter One: CBA Basics
Chapter Two: CBA Pros and Cons
Chapter Three: Implementation Experience—The Staples CBA
Chapter Four: Living Wage Programs as Part of CBAs
Chapter Five: Targeted Hiring Programs as Part of CBAs
Chapter Six: Addressing Environmental Issues Through CBAs
Chapter Seven: Other Community Benefits as Part of CBAs
Chapter Eight: Monitoring and Enforcement of CBA Commitments
Conclusion: Changing the Paradigm
About the Authors
Appendix A: Current Community Benefits Campaigns
Appendix B: Past Community Benefits Agreements
Appendix C: Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal Article on CBAs
Appendix D: Staples CBA
Appendix E: Los Angeles Times Article About Staples CBA
Appendix F: Living Wage Section of the NoHo Commons CBA
Appendix G: CIM Project—Memorandum Attachment to DDA
Appendix H: “Economic Prosperity Element” from Preliminary Draft of General Plan for the City of San Diego
