City Council Approves Neighborhood Liaison Experim...

Posted by daver in City Living, Neighborhoods Matter on January 13, 2010 | No Comments

In Council’s Committee session last week they voted to approve an experiment with a new Neighborhood Liaison position that will be jointly funded as a City-University neighborhood partnership. This item will now go for a final vote in the Regular Council meeting next week (Jan 20th). If you’d like to see the details of the job description, position expectations, salary, etc., click here.

The idea of Neighborhood Liaison was a part of a series of initiatives that the City staff researched and reported back to City Council on that were intended to make sure Kent’s neighborhoods remained strong as they are considered an extremely important part of the community. We titled these efforts the Neighborhood Enrichment Program and you can read more about the program components in an earlier blog post (dated March 2, 2007) or check out the staff proposal on Neighborhood Enrichment.

Here’s also a short list of other blog posts that provided updates on the various elements of the Neighborhood Enrichment program:

April 9, 2009
April 8, 2009
July 24, 2007
June 12, 2007
June 2, 2007

Protecting and restoring the quality of life in Kent neighborhoods is a theme that has emerged year after year on citizen surveys and on the list of City Council’s strategic goals. Generally speaking here’s what the goals of strong neighborhoods aims to achieve:

Objectives:

· Strengthen and build effective partnerships with the City’s diverse community; celebrate and capitalize on Kent’s diversity.

· Provide services and programs for a multi-cultural audience.

· Increase awareness, participation and compliance with neighborhood code issues.

· Promote rehabilitation and sustainable infill development.

· Develop programs that encourage neighborhood based initiatives and planning.

· Partner with Kent State University to revitalize campus border neighborhoods.

· Seek programs that instill a sense of neighborhood pride and enhance neighborhood identity.

· Strive to improve the rate of home ownership in Kent.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

And here’s how these objectives translated into real program efforts in the last two years:

Upgraded Code Officer to full time position
New Exterior Maintenance Code
New City Tool Loan Program
Code Compliance Annual Report
New Citywide Trash Management Service
New Civil Citation System for Code Violations
9 Public Meetings to Update the Zoning Code
New Neighborhood Liason Position
New Community Policing Initiative and Grant

_____________________________________________________________________________

Neighborhoods are more than wooden buildings lined up in row along the public right of way; they are that unique public space that is created from the mix of people that call a neighborhood home. Great neighborhoods are what make life in a small town university City such an attractive place for people of all ages and interests; they really are one of our best assets. The challenge is to make sure we look after our neighborhoods and give them the TLC that is required to keep them meaningful and relevant for each generation that chooses to call Kent home. That, in a nutshell, is what the Neighborhood Liaison position is all about.

Neighborhoods Matter and Code Enforcement Counts...

Posted by daver in Neighborhoods Matter on December 14, 2009 | No Comments

Harkening back to my days as a student in political philosophy I was relieved that guys like Locke and Rousseau offered a reasonable alternative to Hobbes’ view of the world that he presented in his classic work Leviathan. Hobbes’ argued that the natural state of humanity is a war of one against everyone, and thus our life is solitary, poor, brutish and short. Taking that perspective to it’s conclusion meant that only an absolute despot could control the mutually destructive urges of mankind.

There’s no question that we all have some self destructive tendencies but call me an optimist — I think Hobbes was more drama king than philosopher king on this one. That is one dark and depressing lens to view the world through. Even if he turns out to be right I always felt like asking then what’s the point then?

I’m still a John Locke, Thomas Paine Rights of Man sort of guy at heart and I took solace from Rousseu’s view that maybe we are a brutish lot but we brutes can still agree to set aside certain of our brutish tendencies for the sake of community. Signing up for a clan or tribe meant being willing to sacrifice some of our more inappropriate behaviors in the name of public good — that’s the social contract that comes with belonging to something bigger than just ourselves.

Locke was banking on human reason and tolerance to rule the day and thanks to Thomas Jefferson and our fearless Founding Fathers we’ve been cashing checks at that bank ever since under the banner of democracy. It ain’t always perfect but it’s far better than the alternatives.

The point of this stroll down my academic memory lane was merely to say that while Code Enforcement isn’t always the most popular of City activities it is deeply rooted in the concept of what it means to live in a City — we’re willing to concede certain rights, i.e., to leave trash wherever we want and to make as much noise as our inner child wants, for the sake of a public good.

The late Councilman Bill Schultz had a knack for artfully reminding folks that we the people knew what we were getting into when we signed up to be a resident of a City — we accepted the boundaries that we asked our government to uphold on our behalf in the name of the community we call Kent. He acknowledged that Kent was founded on higher expectations for civility and he would offer his sage advice in a friendly and sincere way, saying that if you don’t like boundaries you should live in the county or a township not in the City.

That legacy carries on today in the form of Kent’s public safety and code enforcement functions. They aren’t always the most popular things we do but they are among the most important. With that in mind we just completed our annual review of code enforcement activities for last year. We look at where we have had our most common violations and what patterns have emerged so that we can continually adjust to dynamic community needs.

Here’s the latest summary of Kent’s Code Enforcement Activities: (download a copy)

West River Neighborhood Success Story...

Posted by daver in City Dollars and Sense, Neighborhoods Matter on December 2, 2009 | No Comments

The West River Neighborhood Revitalization project is closing out its 18^th year. With almost 2 decades of pushing and pulling the neighborhood forward there’s a lot to be proud of – new jobs, significant private investment, great new businesses and a traffic corridor that is increasingly pleasant to drive through. There’s still work to be done, and the Fairchild Avenue bridge has a big part to play in that, but it seemed that the West River neighborhood had a story that needed to be told so that the lessons learned could be shared as the City wrestles with economic development challenges in other parts of the Kent community.

Here’s the staff report — (click here to download a pdf version)

City / R&R Trash Bags on Sale at Giant Eagle...

Posted by dave in City Dollars and Sense, City Living, Neighborhoods Matter on October 5, 2009 | No Comments

If you’re keeping track, R&R has been offering citywide trash service in Kent for about 2 months. The last time I asked the staff I was told that roughly 80% of City residents had made the switch to the new R&R service. Kent residents officially have until March of 2010 to change over to the new service but the opportunity to save cash now has motivated most families to take advantage of the offer asap. I also had a report from the City Health Commissioner and he said that he’s definitely seen a reduction in trash problems around town and he attributes it specifically to the new trash service. That’s good news. More good news came from the Public Service Department last week when they emailed me to announce that Giant Eagle in Stow is now selling the City R&R Trash Service bags for Kent residents to purchase. We sell them at City Hall but we’ve been looking for retail outlets that are open 24-7, and I’m pleased to report that Giant Eagle wants your business.

Here’s the announcement from Public Service:

Just wanted to let you know that as of October 1, 2009 the Giant Eagle in Stow (Target Plaza) has our City minimum service trash bags for sale as a courtesy to their customers. They purchased two cases (20 bundles of 10) up front and will have them available for purchase at the Service Desk at cost ($18.50 per bundle).

They agreed to do this as a convenience to their Kent resident customers and will purchase more from us to sell on a as needed basis. We have also contacted the Kent Acme about selling our bags and we’re awaiting a return call as the manager had to check with their corporate office. Hopefully this will be a good option for those who can not purchase bags during our office hours. Let me know if you have any questions.

Visit the City Trash Service Web Page.

Make Streets, Not Roads...

Posted by dave in Neighborhoods Matter on September 18, 2009 | No Comments

If you think that the choice of words can actually mean something when you’re trying to communicate then you’ll appreciate the semantic difference between a road and a street. If not, then go back to texting and tweeting where the meaning of words is almost irrelevant. There’s a movement afoot in city planning circles that advocates great streets and tries to get us to shift the focus from considerations of automobile roadway needs only to include all the other infrastructure amenities that make up a street right of way, including sidewalks, street benches, lighting, grass and landscaped strips, etc. Their point is a great street is more than just a fresh coat of asphalt on the road – a great street is the sum of all it’s parts. I think this is the wind beneath the wings of the sidewalk shoveling discussion so I thought I’d share some of the points of the great streets folks to set the context.

The following is an article from Charlotte NC where development pressures have been enormous and suburbs have reigned supreme. I’d speculate that despite their great development success there are those in Charlotte that long for something more than the highways and byways that connect one suburb community to the next. There are people looking for that sense of old city neighborhoods in a new city environment. That old city stuff is exactly what we have in Kent and why Council is so interested in sidewalks, biking and transit. I found that reading about Charlotte’s challenges helped me appreciate just how good we’ve got it here in Kent.

[if you're interested, here's a link to the Great Streets web site.]

‘Roads’ talk won’t get us anywhere

Posted: Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009

COLUMNISTS »

Mary Newsom, associate editor of the Charlotte Observer, has been writing about growth, development, urban design and urban life since 1995. Write her at The Observer, P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230.

Politicians do it.
Journalists do it.
Business leaders and community activists do it.
So would everyone please stop? Stop talking about “road projects” and “money for roads.” Stop saying, “More money for roads and less for transit” – and stop saying, “More money for transit and less for roads.”

I have two problems with the way we talk about “roads” around here.

First, Charlotte is a city now. In a city you have streets, boulevards, avenues and lanes. “Roads” are what you have outside a city, in rural areas – the kind of lovely places this region used to be filled with.

But like it or not, we are a city now. We should seek city solutions to our city problems. They don’t talk about “roads” in SoHo.

Here’s why terminology matters. If you call Charlotte’s streets “roads,” what you’ll probably envision is something like N.C. 51 between Pineville and Matthews, or maybe Independence Boulevard, heaven forbid. Those thoroughfares may be good for suburban traffic (or not, but that’s another column), but they are not good for creating city neighborhoods. They aren’t welcoming to kids on foot or bikes or parents pushing strollers, to runners or skateboarders or people walking the dog. They and the development they attract almost never let you stroll along, window shopping – one of the great urban pleasures. Our city “roads” are typically engineered so traffic zooms at 50 mph, regardless of the speed limit.

One reason I think we in Charlotte aren’t more precise about what we call our paved routes is that we have thoroughly debased terms that used to mean something. A true “boulevard” would attract boulevardiers strolling between the cafes, and flaneurs (“a person who strolls about idly, as along the boulevards”). Now envision Independence Boulevard or Harris Boulevard. Ugh. If Billy Graham Parkway is a “parkway” then I’m Miley Cyrus.

Or consider “lane.” Runnymede “Lane” is a thoroughfare that turns into Woodlawn “Road.” Sharon “Lane” plows into Sharon Amity “Road.” No wonder we’re confused.

So let’s start talking as if we’re a city, not still abiding in the countryside this region used to be.

Second, to say “roads” when we really mean “transportation” narrows our thinking. Consider the very real problem of traffic congestion. Most politicians say, “We need more roads.”

Maybe we do, and maybe we don’t. But if we can start to think and talk about the problem as “transportation,” we open our minds to more kinds of solutions.

To assume that the solution to congestion is “roads” – that is, putting down pavement in new places – is like assuming all health problems should be treated with surgery or drugs. Those are good tools, when appropriate, but a good doctor doesn’t ignore the options of prevention, exercise, diet and daily habits.

“Transportation” means auto and foot traffic, bicycles, planes, trucks, trains, buses and streetcars. Call it “transportation,” and you’re already thinking more broadly.

You might conclude it’s smarter and more effective to spend money on traffic management tools or pedestrian bridges across creeks, instead of pavement. You’ll probably stop viewing transit as the enemy of roads and start thinking about how the rules that govern development affect transportation, not “traffic” or “transit.”

If you just think “roads,” you’re thinking about pavement, not about the infinitely complex ways transportation and urban design and city growth are meshed together.

Just talking about “roads” won’t, in the end, get us where we need to go.

Mary Newsom is an associate editor at the Observer, mnewsom@charlotteobserver.com or P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230-0308. Read her blog, The Naked City, at www.marynewsom.blogspot.com.

Walkable Streets Keep Housing Values Up...

Posted by dave in Neighborhoods Matter on September 17, 2009 | No Comments

As I mentioned in my blog post yesterday, the City has been looking long and hard at options to improve the walkability of City sidewalks in the winter after mother nature has been a bit mean spirited and deposited piles of the white stuff on our front walk. So far much of the discussion has been about a sense of moral obligation to be a good neighbor and shovel the sidewalks with as much vigor as we shovel our driveways. That message appeals to some but others want to know what’s in it for me so when I happened to come across an article that had real data showing that the more walkable a home is the more it’s worth — I figured I should share it.

Here’s the thing, Kent is more city living than it is suburban living. And one of the things that makes city living so great is that cities tend to be much more walkable than the suburbs. Better yet, Kent is more small city than big city, which means everything is just about within walking distance and usually it’s a pleasant walk.

But here’s the rub — Kent is in northeast Ohio where winter happens. And when it does, that pleasant walk can turn a bit treacherous and in some instances even dangerous as sidewalk walkers are forced to go head to head with cars in the street because the streets are the only area clear enough to walk. Cars and walkers in bad weather conditions don’t mix well which gets us back to why the City has been masticating over this topic since the last snowstorm we had in February.

I thought the following article offered a slightly different perspective on the whole issue of sidewalk walking. The article seems to suggest that you don’t have to have a conscience – you just have to own property – to see the value of keeping sidewalks walkable.

[If you're a source document sort of person, here's the full report]

New Study Shows More Walkable Homes Are Worth More

August 18, 2009

Posted by: Sheila

CHICAGO – Though housing values are still slow to rebound from the collapse of the real estate market, a new analysis from CEOs for Cities reveals that homes in more walkable neighborhoods are worth more than similar homes in less-walkable neighborhoods, pointing to a bright spot in the residential real estate market.

The report, “Walking the Walk: How Walkability Raises Housing Values in U.S. Cities” by Joseph Cortright, analyzed data from 94,000 real estate transactions in 15 major markets provided by ZipRealty and found that in 13 of the 15 markets, higher levels of walkability, as measured by Walk Score, were directly linked to higher home values.

“Even in a turbulent economy, we know that walkability adds value to residential property just as additional square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms and other amenities do,” said Cortright. “It’s clear that consumers assign a tangible value to the convenience factor of living in more walkable places with access to a variety of destinations.”

Walkability is defined by the Walk Score algorithm (www.walkscore.com), which works by calculating the closest amenities – restaurants, coffee shops, schools, parks, stores, libraries, etc. – to any U.S. address. The algorithm then assigns a “Walk Score” from 0-100, with 100 being the most walkable and 0 being totally car-dependent. Walk Scores of 70+ indicate neighborhoods where it’s possible to get by without a car.

By the Walk Score measure, walkability is a direct function of how many destinations are located within a short distance (generally between one-quarter mile and one mile of a home). The study found that in the typical metropolitan area, a one-point increase in Walk Score was associated with an increase in value ranging from $700 to $3,000 depending on the market. The gains were larger in denser, urban areas like Chicago and San Francisco and smaller in less dense markets like Tucson and Fresno.

“These findings are significant for policy makers,” said Carol Coletta, President and CEO of CEOs for Cities, which commissioned the research. “They tell us that if urban leaders are intentional about developing and redeveloping their cities to make them more walkable, it will not only enhance the local tax base but will also contribute to individual wealth by increasing the value of what is, for most people, their biggest asset.”

An example of the effect of walkability on housing values cited in the study is found in Charlotte, NC. In a neighborhood with a typical Walk Score of 54 called Ashley Park, the median home price was $280,000. In a neighborhood with an above average Walk Score – 71 – called Wilmore, an otherwise similar home would be valued at $314,000. Controlling for all other factors including size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, age, neighborhood income levels, distance from the Central Business District and access to jobs, “if you were to pick up that house in Ashley Park, and place it in more walkable Wilmore, it would increase in value by $34,000 or 12 percent,” Cortright said.

In the typical metropolitan areas studied, the premium commanded for neighborhoods with above average Walk Scores compared to those with average Walk Scores ranged from about $4,000 to $34,000, depending on the metro area.

“Walking the Walk’ shows definitively what we’ve always believed – that homes in walkable neighborhoods continue to be a good investment, and are one of the simplest and most effective solutions to fight climate change, improve our health, and strengthen our communities,” said Walk Score founder Mike Mathieu. “Our vision is for every property listing to include a Walk Score: Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Walk Score: 84.”

The study included 15 metropolitan areas, finding a statistically significant positive relationship between walkability and home values in 13 areas: Arlington, Virginia; Austin, Texas;; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Fresno, California; Jacksonville, Florida;; Phoenix, Arizona; Sacramento, California; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Stockton, California, and Tucson, Arizona. In one metro area, Las Vegas, walkability was correlated with lower housing values, and in Bakersfield, California, there was no statistically significant connection between walkability and housing values.

Real estate data for these markets was provided by ZipRealty (NASDAQ: ZIPR, www.ZipRealty.com), a national full-service residential real estate brokerage. “Walkability is a factor we’ve always considered important for buyers and sellers when bidding or pricing a home. We appreciate that “Walking the Walk” has confirmed this intrinsic value,” said Patrick Lashinsky, chief executive officer for ZipRealty. “We were one of the first sites to adopt Walk Score alongside our listings because we feel walkability helps all our clients in the home search process.”

“There are a number of trends that are reshaping the American Dream,” said Coletta, “and the value home buyers now place on living close to more daily destinations is one of the most important. Now, planning, zoning and development decisions have to catch up to consumers.”

City Council Still Wrestling with Sidewalks in the...

Posted by dave in Neighborhoods Matter, Services News on September 16, 2009 | No Comments

City Council has spent about 6 months working with staff, citizens and the Council members to come up with ways to inspire property owners and renters to crawl out of bed the morning after a late night lake effect snow storm to shovel off their sidewalks — all in the name of civic pride. That doesn’t sound so challenging in these 70 degree, happy to be alive, bright sunny days but try 10 degrees, dark skies and blustery on for size and see how quicky your neighbors bound out of bed to do their civic duty. That’s human nature but the trouble is clear sidewalks matter in our City — they matter to folks that don’t have transportation and those folks tend to be the very folks that our social conscience says we need to look out for — the elderly, the disabled, and school kids. Here’s the latest proposal prepared by a couple of Council members that will be discussed in Council’s Committee session this evening.

The following proposal represents the latest evolution of ideas that came out of the volunteer citizens committee on sidewalk snow clearing. It’s worth stating that this is a compromise proposal that 2 Council members plan to propose to the full Council as good first steps. Like many things in the political arena, it’s tough to get 100% consensus and it is the art of compromise that actually gets things done.

SIDEWALK POLICY PROPOSAL

To: Mayor Fender and Kent City Council

From: Council Members Shaffer and Hawksley

Date: September 10.2009

Background: Per recent committee discussions, and including a meeting with City Manager Ruller, Community Development Director Locke and Service Director Roberts, we would propose the following policy changes. These changes all work towards an approach to improve the safety and welfare for pedestrians after significant snow events. While they are intended to provide a comprehensive approach, they can be discussed and voted on separately.

Change current code section 521.16(b) from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction. This will remove enforcement of the section from the police department and place it under discretion of city manager. This will allow city staff, primarily in service and community development or other appropriate person to issue a citation to ticket those who by their actions obstruct the right of way. It may be necessary to include language including sidewalks.
Authorize administration to flesh out details for a license program for snow plow operators.. Mr Roberts indicated that he still believes this could be a soft touch approach that would gain the most improvement for least resources. This motion would authorize Mr. Roberts to provide a specific proposal for consideration at the earliest possible time. (This is different than a previous motion to adopt an unspecified license program)
Authorize administration to flesh out details for subscription service for sidewalk clearing. Mr. Roberts and Mr. Locke believe this would be a way to provide citizens with the information they need to hire someone to plow their walks/drives. This motion would authorize the administration to provide a specific proposal for consideration at the earliest possible time.
Authorize the administration to develop a good neighbor educational campaign. There have been various things discussed, including door hangers, encouraging volunteers, working with Service learning at KSU, providing readily available de-icer, shovels for rent, etc.
Authorize the administration to include $50,000 in the snow removal budget to hire private contractors to help move snow that city plows have piled in various critical locations. This allows discretion and application of resources in most effective way without additional hiring or over-time. Critical locations would be the large mounds at intersections that turn to icebergs.

Admore Stonewater Drive Extension...

Posted by dave in Neighborhoods Matter, Services News on September 12, 2009 | No Comments

The folks on the West side of town — especially in the Lakes of Franklin Mills subdivision — have been anxiously awaiting the extension of Admore Drive/Stonewater through from Fairchild to SR 59 next to Don Joseph Toyota. That project hit a bunch of snags on the engineering drawing board and then in the field but it appears that the City’s traffic engineer has got the project back on track. Recently he sent a Lakes of Franklin Mills homeowner a short description of the project that I thought others might want to know.

Project Update:

The construction activity so far includes the extension of the existing 8″ water main from The Lakes of Franklin Mills Phase 4 to West Main Street where it will be tied into an existing 10″ main. Once the watermain is completed, there won’t be any more construction near the existing homes on Phase 4. The rest of the project is concentrated on rebuilding Stonewater Drive between West Main Street and the bridge over Fish Creek.

A 10′ wide asphalt multi-use path will be constructed on the west side of Stonewater Drive from West Main Street to just south of the bridge. New concrete sidewalks will be constructed at the intersection along with curb ramps to cross the west leg of West Main and the north leg of Stonewater Drive.

The road will look similar to that constructed north of the bridge, there will be concrete curb/gutter, 22′ of asphalt pavement, concrete driveway aprons for Klaben and Don Joseph, grass lawn strips and street trees along both sides of the road. The guardrail ends on all four corners of the bridge will be replaced.

A low stone retaining wall will be built on the NE corner of W. Main/Stonewater (in front of Klaben Ford).

Ohio Edison, ATT & Warner Cable will be relocating their overhead lines underground for the first 500 feet of the project and then will remain overhead to the bridge. All of their lines will be on the east side of the road.

A traffic signal will be installed at West Main Street and will include pedestrian signals and pushbuttons to cross West Main and Stonewater.

The plans do not include any additional traffic control through the Lakes of Franklin Mills. The existing layout of Stonewater Drive through Franklin Mills includes traffic calming with the roundabout (and stop signs) at Admore, curved streets and the median at Fairchild.

Project Background (from City Capital Projects Web Site)

Project Location: Admore Drive (Stonewater Drive)

Project Budget: $1,060,000 ($353,000 from OPWC)

Project Schedule:

Design Start Date November 2007

Construction Start Date July 2009

The Admore Drive Extension project will connect West Main Street with the Lakes at Franklin Mills Development and provide a 1000’ long all purpose trail from West Main Street. The construction of a 10’ wide asphalt multi-use path will end at the existing bridge over Fish Creek. The trail will end south of Al Lease Park due to an insufficient bridge width to safely carry both vehicles and bikes.The project involves the construction of new curbs, pavement, sidewalks, storm sewer and waterline to update Admore Drive (Stonewater Drive) to the current standards for an improved street. Existing utilities will also be relocated underground.

This project also incorporates the installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Admore Drive (Stonewater Drive) and West Main Street to accommodate the increase in traffic using this street for access.

The total project length is 1,400 feet (beginning at the West Main Street intersection and heading north).

Project Finish April 2010

Admore Drive (Stonewater Drive)

Zoning Review Session #7: Architectural Review Sta...

Posted by dave in Neighborhoods Matter on August 14, 2009 | No Comments

I think most people would agree that how things look matters. It’s in the application of this concept where people start to disagree. On the one end of the spectrum are those folks that say nobody, including their government, should be able to tell them what to do with the look of their house or building. It’s their property and the constitution assigns them property rights, end of story. On the other hand, folks will also argue that they have a right to not have your bad looking property diminish the value of their property so the government needs to protect their property rights too, which usually takes the form of some level of architectural design standards. This is a great example of choosing between 2 rights — which is what makes setting public policy so difficult. There is no right or wrong answer, just the best expression of what the Kent community believes is best for Kent — which is what the Planning Department will be reviewing next Tuesday night, August 18 at 7:45 pm in the Council Chambers.

Here’s an email update from the Planning Director:

Good Morning:

After a brief hiatus in July, we are due to continue our review of the Kent Zoning Code. The next session will be Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 7:45 PM. Please note the changed starting time which is due to the fact that the Planning Commission has two cases (both zoning text amendments) on its agenda and their meeting begins at 7 PM.

The next topic for discussion relates to Architectural Review Standards (ARS). For those who may not know this, the City currently has no specific architectural review standards in its zoning code. It does have an architectural advisory board which serves at the pleasure of the Planning Commission and does have input on some projects. Since this is a rather complex subject, I have broken the topic down into two parts. We will deal with the first of the two parts at the coming meeting. Our focus will be on determining how ARS would potentially fit into the current development review process. It seems prudent to have this discussion first and to get some direction on this before actually trying to define the standards themselves, since the manner in which the standards are applied may actually have some bearing on the content of the standards.

Attached you will find the agenda for the meeting, along with a copy of what had been drafted (the draft is not complete) for the Unified Development Code undertaking about 5 years ago, and also our staff report on this matter. I hope to see you all there. If there are any questions, please feel free to contact me.

To see the agenda and review the handouts prepared for the meeting, click here.

When Less Is More...

Posted by dave in Neighborhoods Matter, Safe City on July 15, 2009 | No Comments

A couple of years ago the Mayor of Youngstown made headlines when he argued that Youngstown’s future depended upon it’s ability to get smaller not bigger, and he began budgeting $1 million a year to remove blighted and dilapitated properties. His ideas got attention and despite his un-typical strategy to make Youngstown stronger by making Youngstown smaller he’s had enough good results that other cities are lining up their own smaller is better programs. It turns out that the Federal Housing folks knew a good thing when they saw it and under the Recovery Act they have funds available to help cities, including Kent, follow Youngstown’s lead. With a little bit of these dollars in our pocket we’re out looking for properties in Kent that are blighted beyond the point of reasonable repair. If you have some in mind, let us know.

It turns out that the City was awarded a portion of a regional grant known as the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) that came through the Ohio Dept. of Development. The primary purpose of the NSP grant is to stabilize residential neighborhoods by demolishing or redeveloping vacant, abandoned, or foreclosed residential properties. The funding has created a real opportunity for the City to demolish some blighted residential properties that may be negatively impacting neighborhoods throughout the City.

Community Development staff have already begun to compile a list of proposed vacant, abandoned, or foreclosed residential units that will be demolished or redeveloped using NSP funds and are hoping to add more units to the list. Anyone that has reason to be out and about in our community and has a good eye for trouble spots, we would appreciate it if you could forward us an address for a residential unit that you think has been vacant/abandoned for several months and is deteriorated to the point that it looks like it needs to be demolished.

The NSP funding is primarily limited to existing residential structures so unfortunately, commercial/industrial sites would not be eligible for this program.

Here’s who to contact in the City with your Kent ideas:

Bridget Susel

Grants & Neighborhood Programs Administrator

City of Kent Community Development Department

930 Overholt Rd., Kent OH 44240

(330) 678-8108

email: susselb@kent-ohio.org

If you’re interested in reading more, the following information came off of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) web site.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) was established for the purpose of stabilizing communities that have suffered from foreclosures and abandonment. Through the purchase and redevelopment of foreclosed and abandoned homes and residential properties, the goal of the program is being realized.

Nature of Program

NSP is a component of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). The CDBG regulatory structure is the platform used to implement NSP and the HOME program provides a safe harbor for NSP affordability requirements.

NSP grantees develop their own programs and funding priorities. However, NSP grantees must use at least 25 percent of the funds appropriated for the purchase and redevelopment of abandoned or foreclosed homes or residential properties that will be used to house individuals or families whose incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the area median income. In addition, all activities funded by NSP must benefit low- and moderate-income persons whose income does not exceed 120 percent of area median income. Activities may not qualify under NSP using the “prevent or eliminate slums and blight” or “address urgent community development needs” objectives.

Eligible Uses

NSP funds may be used for activities which include, but are not limited to:

Establish financing mechanisms for purchase and redevelopment of foreclosed homes and residential properties;
Purchase and rehabilitate homes and residential properties abandoned or foreclosed;
Establish land banks for foreclosed homes;
Demolish blighted structures;
Redevelop demolished or vacant properties

Homebuyer Assistance

Homebuyers cannot receive assistance directly from HUD. NSP funds can be used to help homebuyers purchase homes, but they must contact an NSP grantee for application details. NSP operates on a national scale, but participation requirements may differ from one state or city to another.

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