Union workers with Unite Here Local 49 and their supporters march Oct. 21 around Old City Hall in Sacramento demanding better community benefits tied to the downtown Railyards project.   

SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - More than 1,000 Sacramento residents have signed a petition demanding better community benefits tied to a development proposed for downtown, according to a local union. 

And dozens of people echoed those demands Oct. 21 at Old City Hall, while calling for the City Council to delay a vote on the project so those benefits can be negotiated with the developer. City Councilwoman Mai Vang, District 8, attended the rally.

She supports the Railyards project, she said, but added “we want a railyard for all.”

She wants to see the project include at least 25% affordable housing and she wants the community to shape the benefits package, she said. Additionally, she supported a delay to the City Council vote planned for Oct. 27.

That vote was delayed.

Those rallying Oct. 21 want a community benefits package that includes 25% affordable housing, a grocery store, an anti-displacement fund and living wages for operations workers at the proposed hotels and soccer stadium, said Aamir Deen, president of Unite Here Local 49, which represents downtown hospitality workers.  

LDK Ventures, which is at least partly responsible for the development of the project, did not respond to a request for comment.

The Railyards project will double the size of downtown Sacramento, Local 49 leaders said, with up to 10,000 housing units, a concert venue, stadium and three hotels.

Nancy Williams, 68, now lives where the Railyards project would be built. She lives in affordable housing, which she pays for with her Social Security check.

If they build the more than 9,000 units of market-rate housing, “I’ll be priced out,” she said. “I can’t imagine being homeless out here.”  

William’s opinion is the City Council votes their own way, she said. But she is speaking up.

The existing plans call for 6% percent of the homes to be affordable, union officials said, while 94% will be luxury. Thousands of jobs will be low-wage, the officials added, and developers might get a $222 million tax subsidy for the project.

The project website says the project will have mixed-income housing.

The City Council planned to vote Oct. 27 on an enhanced infrastructure financing district for the project, which is part of the overall subsidy, union officials said. An EIFD is a type of tax increment financing that can help California cities and counties pay for economic development projects.