The process of the Jefferson City Housing Authority acquiring property as part of the East Capitol Avenue Area Urban Renewal Plan began in a small avalanche of letters dropped at the post office Wednesday afternoon.
The 46 letters should reach their addressees today or Friday, bearing the first official notice from the Housing Authority to property owners in the area bounded by Lafayette, East State, Adams and East High streets, with the through streets of Jackson and Marshall as well, that their properties are on the acquisition list.
"Your property located at has been identified as one that could be acquired by the Housing Authority for the City of Jefferson, acting as the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of the City, as part of the East Capitol Avenue Area Urban Renewal Plan," the letters from Housing Executive Director Cynthia Quetsch say. She said the letters were mailed to property owners who are on the "may be acquired list."
Quetsch wrote, "One of the goals of the plan is to conserve or rehabilitate property when economically feasible. The plan provides that an owner of a property may retain ownership, occupancy and use of such property if " the Housing Authority documents advise the recipients, outlining three requirements:
"The land is not required for public use or for the redevelopment of adjacent properties;
"The owner commits to eliminating any and all conditions that helped lead to the designation of the area as blighted; and
"The owner enters into a written agreement with the Housing Authority committing to construct, restore, repair, rehabilitate, occupy and use the property in compliance with the Urban Renewal Plan and with City building and occupancy requirements."
If the property owners indicate they are interested in the agreement with the Housing Authority, they must respond in writing no later than Feb. 10, either by mail to P.O. Box 1029, Jefferson City, MO, 65102-1029, or electronically at [email protected], with a subject line "East Capitol Renewal."
"Thereafter, the Housing Authority would try to reach mutually acceptable terms for such an agreement with you," the Quetsch letters advise the landowners. "If the Housing Authority does not hear from you in response to this letter, or no agreement is reached within 30 days of the receipt of the notice from you, the Housing Authority could take action to acquire property. However, at this time no decision has been made to do so."
She also informs the property owners the Housing Authority does not have funding available to assist them with conservation, renovation or repair of their properties.
The Housing Authority commissioners and Quetsch will meet 5-7 p.m. Monday with Jefferson City representatives in the City Hall council chambers "to start the discussion on prioritizing properties," Quetsch told the News Tribune.
"I do not see any final decisions being made at that time, but rather the start of the process," she said. "I anticipate a discussion on the overall vision/philosophy on how to proceed before looking at individual properties."
Some commissioners and members of the City Council attended a Jan. 10 City Hall meeting which was billed as an open public forum. A straw poll was taken that night with the 65 attendees voting for the properties they considered the top five priorities for first attention by the urban renewal project.
The straw poll identified the top five properties among the 116 in the blighted area, in order of attention: 105 Jackson St., 108 Jackson St., 500 E. Capitol Ave., 401 E. Capitol Ave. and 103 Jackson St..
The letters dropped Wednesday were consistent with a schedule for urban renewal announced in December. Under that calendar, the so-called "may be acquired" letters were to be mailed between Tuesday and Feb. 7.
Other scheduled dates of action included: March 21, offers to purchase; May 25-July 25, closes on voluntary sales; May 25, condemnation proceeds on acquisitions; July 1, court sets condemnation hearings; and Aug. 1, Housing Authority takes possession of properties, unless condemnation is appealed, which could require nine months to two years to litigate.