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<br />
<br />February 11, 1986
<br />
<br /> At a regular meeting of the City Council held on Tuesday, February 11, 1986, there were
<br />present:
<br />
<br />James W. Holley, III, Ben A. Beamer, Sr.,
<br />L. Louise Lucas, Glori~ O. Webb, Morton F.
<br />Steven L~eberman, City Attorney.
<br />
<br />E. G. Corprew, Jr., J. Robert Gray,
<br /> Whitlow, George L. Hanbury, City Manager,
<br />
<br /> Rev. Edward D. Strange, Jr., Pastor of Rock Church of Portsmouth, opened the meeting with
<br />prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
<br />
<br /> Motion of Mr. Beamer and seconded by Mr. Gray, minutes of the called meeting of January
<br />28, 1986; minutes of the regular meeting of January 28, 1986, to be approved as received, and
<br />was adopted by unanimous vote.
<br />
<br />Mayor Holley welcomed all visitors in attendance.
<br />
<br /> 86-44 A joint Public Hearing with the Commissioners of Portsmouth Redevelopment Housing
<br />Authority and City Council on the proposed ConservatiQn Plan for Port Norfolk, East Park View,
<br />West Park View, Ebony Heights, Brighton and Prentis Park; and proposed amendments No. 1S Craw-
<br />ford Urban Renewal Project~ No. 1 Twin Pines Project, No. a Southside Ill Redevelopment Project
<br />was held with the following Commissioners present:
<br />
<br />Williams H. Oast, III, Chairman, Dr. E. A. Barham, RalFh W. Gholson, John 5. Hatcher, Jr.
<br />P. Ward Robinett, Danny Cruce, Executive Director, Ralph Buxton, Attorney.
<br />
<br />Mayor Holley opened the meeting with the following remarks:
<br />
<br /> "Tonight we are asking for public comment on several issue
<br />of our City. First, a Publi= Hearing on Conservation Plans for
<br />areas, if approved will join seven other conservation areas in a
<br />loan program.
<br />
<br />related to the development
<br />six neighborhoods. These
<br />new expanded low interest
<br />
<br /> Then, we will hear comment on amendments to the Crawford, Twin Pine and Southside
<br />Redevelopment Plans. I am pleased that we are join~j in this activity tonight by our partner
<br />· n these efforts, the Board of Commissioners of the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing
<br />Authority. I would like to ask Mr. Oast if he or his staff have any comments."
<br />
<br /> William H. Oast, III, Chairman of Portsmouth ReRevelopment and Housing Authority, offere
<br />the following comments:
<br />
<br /> "Mr. Mayor and Members of Council, on behalf of the Board of Commissioners of the Redevel
<br />opment and Housing Authority, I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy
<br />schedules to hold this joint public hearing. In furtherance of the goals for progess for the
<br />City of Portsmouth which were previously established by Council, we are proposing amendments
<br />to several existing redevelopment project plans as well as plans to create several new con-
<br />servation districts within the'City of Portsmouth. We feel that these measures will enable
<br />us to continue our efforts to improve the overall quality of life for Portsmouth citizens. We
<br />will consider the comments made tonight at our next regularly scheduled Commissioners' meetin
<br />and make a recommendation to City Council regarding subsequent action.
<br />
<br /> At this time, I would like to call upon Mr. Danny Cruce, Authority Executive Director,
<br />to offer some more detailed comments regarding these various programs as proposed before us
<br />here tonight."
<br />
<br /> Danny Cruce, Executive Director, Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, present
<br />the following:
<br />
<br />SOUTHSIDE III (Amendment No. 4)
<br />
<br /> Amendment No. 4 to the S0uthside III Redevelopment Project consists of amending the
<br />boundaries to include the block bounded by Fifth Street (east), Madison Street (south, Madison
<br />Village Apartments (west), and Edwards Street (north). This represents a continuation of our
<br />activities in Southside which were initiated in 1975 to acquire and assemble property for new
<br />commercial and residential development. This will entail the acquisition of 9 vacant parcels
<br />and 7 improved parcels with 1 homeowner and 6 tenant-~ccupied structures for a total of 16
<br />properties. Additionally, we have designated the Wright Memorial Church located on the corner
<br />of Fourth and Randolph Streets to be acquired. This ~s necessary in order to facilitate the
<br />proposed Porte Centre commerce park development. We have been in contact with representatives
<br />of the Church and they are desirous of being acquired.
<br />
<br />CRAWFORD URBAN RENEWAL PROJECT (Amendment No. 15)
<br />
<br /> The purpose of Amendment No. 15 to the Crawford Urban Renewal Project is to designate
<br />several additional properties to be acquired. Most notably of these is the former downtown
<br />Exxon service station located at the intersection of Court and County Streets. This property
<br />will be made available to new development in keeping with the Priority Action Plan for Ports-
<br />mouth, Also, properties in proximity to the new development currently under way will either
<br />be rehabilitated to very stringent standards by the current owners or will be acquired by the
<br />Authority and offered for rehabilitation to private sector developers. Current owners will be
<br />given a very abbreviated time period to initiate rehabilitation activities prior to the
<br />Authority proceeding the acquisition. We feel that this will greatly improve the overall imag
<br />of this important sector of the Olde Towne South neighborhood and will protect the current on-
<br />going investment and enhance the marketability of those units now under construction. Additio
<br />ally, we are amending the plan to permit us to offer low-interest rehabilitation loans to home
<br />owners in the Olde Towne South section of the Crawford (Effingham, High, Court, and South
<br />
<br />
<br />
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