Citizens of the Fruit Belt, an area in Buffalo's lower East Side, are fed up with UB.
They said they haven't received any information about UB's plans to buy McCarley Gardens - a low-income public housing development - to expand the downtown Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
Citizens are concerned about their homes and neighborhoods and think UB doesn't care about its relations with the community. UB officials, however, believe they are doing the best they can under the circumstances.
On March 19, the Ellicott District Common Council held a meeting where to discuss McCarley Gardens. Citizens were appalled when no UB representative attended.
"I don't intend on giving a yes vote for anything else for what UB intends to do in the City of Buffalo at this time until they have become much more neighbor-friendly," Council Member Darius Pridgen told The Buffalo News.
Pridgen could not be reached for comment by the time of press.
UB officials agree their community relations could be better, but they don't think the university is entirely at fault.
Mike Pietkiewicz, assistant vice president for government community relations, said when he found out about the 1 p.m. meeting, it was already 12:40 p.m. and he was in Schuyler, N.Y., on his way back from conferences in Albany.
He said disclosing any information is not up to him, anyway. Because citizens aren't involved in the contract and no future plans have been solidified, UB and current property owner Oak Michigan Housing Development Corp. will not release any information.
Oak Michigan, a not-for-profit housing development corporation sponsored by St. John Baptist Church, approached UB about purchasing the land in 2009. The two signed a contract in 2010.
No progress has been made recently because the two parties need to work with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a relocation plan for current residents. The church, however, is determined to sell the property for $15 million, which will help fund a $500 million community development plan - with or without UB's involvement, according to Pietkiewicz.
Some citizens are still unsatisfied and have expressed their feelings in an online petition created by Amina Johnson, community outreach coordinator for People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) Buffalo.
The petition calls for a new economic opportunity panel to discuss the fate of the aging apartment complex. UB and the church created the current panel, which includes three representatives from each party. These members conducted 72 individual and group interviews with the public to listen to concerns and get ideas for what actions could benefit the area.
"The University at Buffalo is not privileged to make decisions about the Fruit Belt and Hospital Hill neighborhoods," Johnson said in the petition. "The residents of McCarley Gardens and the Fruit Belt have the right to use their deserved voice regarding this neighborhood planning."
As of Sunday, 137 supporters had signed the document online. Although the petition will not have any direct effect on the contract, Johnson uses it to encourage UB officials and citizens to work together.
In some regard, the two groups' collaboration has already begun. On Saturday, students cleaned up the Fruit Belt through the "UB Gettin' Dirty" program as a way to make peace with the campus' future neighbors and do community service.
"It's good public relations, because they're building the new medical campus in the city," Fruit Belt Homeowners and Tenants Council President Zaid Islam told The News. "Now they can have a vested interest in the neighborhood that they're building in."
There will be a Common Council meeting at City Hall on April 23 at 1 p.m. to further discuss the issue. Pietkiewicz said he will attend.
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