Welcome to the Future!
Rhode Island wants to build a new PawSox stadium.
To get to a new stadium, legislators filed S-0990 & S-0989, that included funding requirements, new eminent domain provisions, and reworking the definition of blight.
Public input on the eminent domain provisions & transparency concerns raised by the State Republican Chair, led to the removal of new eminent domain and blight provisions.
RINPR | Revised PawSox Bill Steers More Revenue To Pawtucket; Outlook In RI House Uncertain
Wilmington, DE Mayor Mike Purzcki proposed to eliminate blight by:
The opposition killed it by:
What solution did opponents want? Protections in ordinance that limit the ability to take owner occuppied homes and to prohibit takings for minor violations.
The city: Charlestown Indiana
The code enforcement fines: Code enforcement violations began in the summer of 2016, after city council adopted fines that cannot be waived
The alleged goal of city leaders: revitalization
The court’s response to the code fines:
PA Act 152 (2016) allows local governmental entities to implement a fee on the recording of deeds and mortgages in certain counties.
The fee will be dedicated to the local governmental entity’s county demolition funds.
The fee cap: $15
Requirements on local governmental entities that create a demolition fund:
The local government: Somerset County, NJ
The fee: $15 fee to file official documents with the County Recorder of Deeds. Documents include mortgages and deeds
The fees will be dedicated to which fund? The Demolition Fund to help the county remediate blight
Entity that exercized its power of eminent domain? The City of Youngtown, Ohio
The statutory authority to take a residential property: The City of Youngstown has the authority to use eminent domain by a spot blight taking that allows an individual property to be taken via eminent domain.
Was the property occuppied? No, it was abandoned by the 2nd previous owner, and purchased by Harbour Portfolio Advisors at a foreclosure sale
Which entity rehabilitated the property for resale? The Youngstow…
The City: Littleton, CO & Wheat Ridge, CO
The voter approval requirement: To access urban renewal tools like tax increment financing or eminent domain require urban renewal
What did a district court in Colorado do with Wheat Ridge’s Ordinance? The Wheat Ridge ordinance, related to mandating that any tax-increment financing package over $2.5 million first get the consent of voters, is pre-empted by Colorado’s supremacy on the issue.
What’s the city’s argument: voter approval will cost time…
Rhode Island has a stadium to build for its Pawtucket Red Sox.
What did the Senate Finance Chair say in response to this hoopla? “public opinion is not going to be the litmus test”
Mesa, AZ wants to reduce blight. To do that, it created a redevelopment zones- East and West Redevelopment Areas.
Why redevelopment zones? The designations trigger access to tax breaks & other incentives to attract investment and infill development
What does Arizona law require to trigger blight tax incentives? That a redevelopment district must exhibit a predominance of blighted conditions
East Valley Tribune | Mesa creates redevelopment zones to reverse blight
Large portions of city of Highland, Illinois is blighted, which translates to the city will create 3 business districts.
The economic benefit of the 3 business districts will be: