[Vision2020] Moscow Considers Renewal District

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (September 1, 2007) Spokesman Review -

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Moscow considers renewal district 

September 1, 2007

MOSCOW, Idaho - The Moscow Urban Renewal Agency has forwarded a resolution
to the Moscow City Council requesting that a large area in the central part
of the city be considered as an urban renewal district.

A map distributed at Thursday's meeting showed locations that Harlan Mann, a
community development consultant from Boise, said had unsanitary conditions,
faulty parking lot layouts, deteriorated water and sewer lines, and flooding
and fire hazards, among other problems.

"'Deteriorated' in my mind is abject slum conditions, and I don't think you
have any deteriorated buildings, ones that should be torn down now," Mann
said. 

However, he explained that conditions are worsening. "You have older
buildings throughout your downtown and almost by definition they are
deteriorating."

If formed, the district could redevelop some areas to make it easier for
people to travel between the University of Idaho and downtown, the
Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported.

Urban renewal districts are run by board members appointed by elected
officials. The districts are intended to guide development for the public
good. They typically operate on money generated through increases in
property values - and thus the property taxes collected - after a district
is formed.

Mann said he evaluated streets, alleys and parking lots, and he drove or
walked to find streets that didn't have full curbs or sidewalks on both
sides.

"The main emphasis on this one, of course, is the number of owners in any
given block that make it difficult for normal developments to do something
bigger and better," he said.

City Supervisor Gary Riedner said the improvements could be made by the
city, but it doesn't have the money. He said creating the district would
allow the city to have a say in what improvements a developer can make.

"You have the ability to assist private development in this area in a more
direct manner," he said.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"People who ridicule others while hiding behind anonymous monikers in
chat-room forums are neither brave nor clever."

- Latah County Sheriff Wayne Rausch (August 21, 2007)