The Long Beach Bayfront Resiliency Study was a heated topic of discussion earlier this week, as community members met in religious spaces — and eventually City Hall, to voice concerns.

The study, which became accessible on June 29, features 19 questions — a combination of open-ended questions and multiple choice options on commercial and residential spaces, as well as demographics. It addresses the city’s North Park section — with a concentrated population of Black and Hispanic residents — bordered by Magnolia and Long Beach Boulevards.

At a community event on Aug. 17 at the Margaret Evans Center, organized by activist James Hodge, community members raised concerns. Crystal Lake, a long-time resident and community advocate from North Park, said that the three-family home on Harrison Street where she grew up was part of “the initial gentrification.” Lake also claimed that the Superblock on Riverside Boulevard displaced 40 families.

“There’s a lot of pieces to this puzzle that we should all be aware of,” Lake said. “What’s going to be built  and is it going to be affordable?”

Congresswoman Laura Gillen and representatives from the New York State Department of State were present at the meeting. “We encourage all community members to complete the survey and attend the upcoming public meetings,” Mercedes Padilla, a Department of State public information officer, wrote in an email to the Herald. “Long Beach’s waterfront assets are only strengthened by the inclusive engagement of its residents, especially those most impacted most by future redevelopment.”

At a City Council meeting on Aug. 18, City Manager Dan Creighton said that a deadline extension for the survey was being discussed. He noted the city spent extensive time gauging community interest, including a kickoff meeting at the MLK Center on June 22, weekly emails and promoting the survey on its social media pages, which garner a combined 1.5 million views per month, a total of 13 times since mid-July.

Creighton said over 1,000 electronic survey responses have been recorded. City Spokesperson John McNally also told the Herald that physical copies of the survey have also been received and are not yet tallied.

“Because this is such an important project, we need to make sure that the ultimate recommendations of the study are what the public wants and supports,” Creighton said. “We have prioritized getting robust public input even in these early stages before developing any plan moving forward.”

Creighton thanked residents for voicing their concerns and said meetings following the study will be rescheduled, to be announced at a later date. Creighton also noted that city officials are “extremely cognizant” of residents in North Park.

“To be clear,” Creighton said. “We are in the initial stage of the study. There is no plan. There are no proposed projects. Where we’re at now is soliciting input from the public on what they would like to see developed in the area so our consultants can get to work on developing [a request for proposal] based on what the public would like to see.”

As of Aug. 19, a new survey deadline had not been announced. The online survey can be found here.