Planning should be done one neighborhood at a time, two officials said.
By NANCY TULLIS
YOUNGSTOWN — Housing code enforcement and use of eminent domain are two keys to successful redevelopment of urban neighborhoods, two urban planning officials advised during a Youngstown 2010 workshop.
Melissa Barry, director of housing and community development in Louisville, Ky.; and Jerry Egan, manager of comprehensive planning in Akron; gave examples Wednesday of successes in their cities.
Barry said identifying owners of abandoned homes, and slum landlord owners of blighted homes and deteriorating rental properties, is key to neighborhood revitalization.
She said Louisville triple-taxes landlords who ignore city ordinances, and city officials work closely with law enforcement to identify homes that are both in violation of city code and the site of crimes.
Barry said Louisville has laws that property owners are liable for any criminal activity that takes place on their property — whether or not they are a part of it.
Akron's work
Egan said Akron has been working on neighborhood revitalization for 30 years, and mandatory housing code enforcement through the health department has been critical to the redevelopment success.
Both Barry and Egan said their city officials aren't afraid to use eminent domain. Offering fair market value plus relocation costs gives property owners a far better deal than they would get trying to sell on their own, and few have complained about their new surroundings once moved, they said.
Both said successful neighborhood projects are the result of planning, one neighborhood at a time, not just one house at a time. They said planners should pick areas of the city to focus on a few hundred homes at a time.
Egan cited examples where Akron has bought not only deteriorating homes, but businesses such as a tire store operating in a former gas station, to build new neighborhoods complete with a grocery store.
He said the grocery store is one of a chain from Cleveland because neither local grocers nor large chains were interested in risking an urban investment. The grocery store has, however, thrived in a redeveloped area.
Among the redevelopment projects in Akron are not only single-family homes, but high-rise buildings for senior citizens and loft condominiums.
"The cure for suburbia," is the slogan for one loft condominium project under construction in Akron.
Other speakers
Jason Whitehead, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams' chief of staff, and Heather McMahon, urban design and grants coordinator for the city of Warren, were also workshop speakers.
McMahon said in Warren some redevelopment is done one house at a time, mostly funded by federal grants. Warren is working on neighborhood redevelopment, and a comprehensive plan similar to Youngstown 2010.
She said nonprofit groups are key to redevelopment in Warren. One such group is Take Back Neighborhoods, which has focused on fighting crime and blight in the city's historic neighborhoods.
Whitehead said Barry's message that city planners should focus less on time constraints of projects and more on doing things right was the key point of the workshop for him.
Youngstown must do neighborhood revitalization right, with local leadership, and with stakeholders of the city involved in the process sharing their ideas. Political leadership should not overshadow stakeholder leadership, but many stakeholders still have not come to the discussion table, Whitehead said.