Bid to end blight advances

Housing Authority approves city urban renewal plan

This view is of the rear of several properties in the 400 block of Capitol Avenue that are among the blighted ones to be acquired through eminent domain by the Jefferson City Housing Authority.
This view is of the rear of several properties in the 400 block of Capitol Avenue that are among the blighted ones to be acquired through eminent domain by the Jefferson City Housing Authority.

The Jefferson City Housing Authority on Tuesday took another step in the process of condemning blighted property - with the ultimate goal of renewal - on the city's near east side.

Jefferson City's acrimonious struggle to redevelop a chunk of the historic East Capitol Avenue neighborhood overcame another legal hurdle Tuesday morning when the Housing Authority voted unanimously to approve the urban renewal plan passed by the City Council two months ago.

Housing Authority Executive Director Cynthia Quetsch said she would follow the authority's action with alacrity, formally identifying the parcels and blocks of property tapped during Tuesday's meeting.

Quetsch and City Administrator Steve Crowell both indicated the Housing Authority's action Tuesday would trigger city departments to work in unison to ensure resolution of the tussle over the 38.1 acres and 116 parcels of property in some of the city's most desirable downtown real estate. The study's parameters were Adams and Lafayette streets and State and High streets. Sixty-six percent or 76 of the 116 parcels are within the Capitol Avenue Historic District, which is federally designated on the National Register of Historic Places.

The City Council approved a blight study of the East Capitol Avenue Area in August and sent it to the Housing Authority. Tuesday's vote at the Housing Authority now sends the urban renewal plan to the city's Planning and Zoning Commission for approval. A green light from that body would spawn a final vote of the City Council, which could then condemn the private property.

Before the August vote, the council had received an exhaustive proposal from the St. Louis and Kansas City based architecture, planning and design firm Peckham Guyton Albers & Viets (PGAV) on July 21. Titled the Jefferson City East Capitol Avenue Urban Renewal Plan, the study defined the qualifications for the city to use Missouri's Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority Law (LCRA) "to facilitate private or public development or redevelopment in a declining area or to induce the development of an area that has been deficient in growth and development."

The report on the East Capitol Area adopted by the Housing Authority stipulates "the area was found to exhibit the conditions that warrant a declaration that it is a blighted area under the LCRA.

"The area is a mix of land uses that includes single and multi-family residential, public/semi-public, commercial and even industrial land uses," the Housing Authority report says. "Building architectural styles run a gamut of buildings with no particular style to French Colonial, Mid-19th Century, Late Victorian, late 19th and 20th Century Classical Revival, Craftsmen and Art Deco. Many of the single-family homes with the architectural characteristics noted have been converted to commercial or mutli-family uses. In most instances, the outward appearance of the structures has not been significantly altered.

"The property conditions are rapidly deteriorating in the area. Many buildings are vacant and a number or properties were deemed abandoned, under city ordinance, forcing the city to board up these buildings. Electricity, water and gas services have been terminated in some buildings. Some of these properties are occupied by individuals illegally," the Housing Authority narrative continues.

The 23-page Housing Authority report boils down to this: "After consideration and examination of each individual parcel in the area, the area, on the whole, is a 'Blighted Area,' as defined in the law."

The preponderance of the area is therefore found to meet the statutory definition of "blight," the Housing Authority stated.

And, finally, the conclusion: "The area is a portion of the city which by reason of the predominance of: defective or inadequate street layout, insanitary or unsafe conditions, deterioration of site improvements, improper subdivision or obsolete platting or the existence of such conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of such factors, constitutes an economic or social liability or a menace to the public health, safety, morals or welfare in its present condition and use."