Minutes 07/22/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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July 22, 1980 The remaining $25,000 includes continuation of the $10,000 contract to the Human Resource~ Office. $8,500 for salarias and fringes for the Clerk Typist and $6,500 for transportation. I feel that the above recommendations will provide the necessary supplemental Huma~r~Servi, support to the residents of the Community Development areas." Michael Kay, Executive Director of the Portsmouth R~dev~lopment & H~using Authority presented the following statement: "As the City Manager mentioned, the proposed 1981 Community Development Program generally provides for the continuation of the locality's comprehensive effort to target increasingly scarc~ CD resources so as to have the most significant long Germ impact on our city. We shoulc also indicate that the effectuation of the 1981 Plan requires that the City amend the 1980 Program and the three-year strategy approved in 1979. As most of you here are aware, the emphasis in our previous action years has been devoted to the improvement of the Southside community. It is proposed in the 1981 prog~am~to provide funding for the assemblage of pro- perty in the two blocks delineated on the exhibit before you. In addition to the continuation of funding for the Local Rehabilitation Loan Program, primarily for the Historic Districts of Cradock and Truxtun, financi~ settlement and program · ncome derived from the Mount Hermon, Effingham, Park View, Olde Towne and Crawford projects are to be used to fund ongoing activities in these projects in accordance with prior written agreements between HUD, the City and ~he Authority. Waterfront Planning, Human Services, Codes Enforcement and Public ~mprovements will also be undertake~ under the 1981 Community Development Program. Two new areas are being proposed for funding under the 1981 Community Development Program Crawford Urban Renewal/Downtown South this area represents the last ma~or untreated and blighted residential neighborhood in the downtown area. It is hoped that a sizeable portion of this 19th century~neighborhood can be retained through a combination of redevelop- ment and conservation efforts. This area was first recommended for public attention in the RU/DAT Study conducted in 1977. The City's Downtown Revitalization Study adopted by City Council in 1978 also recommended this area for conservation efforts. One such effort made by the City was the enactment of a new flexible residential/commercial zoning district for this neighborhood which was implemented in the summer of 1979. This single acticn represented a significant step toward preserving this area. Other private investments such as the restora- tion of the New Kirn Building and the Pythian Castle, along with the provision of 100 new units of elderly housing in this neighborhood by PRHA, give added significance to this area's importance to downtown revitalization. It is recommended that $900,000 in 1981 CD funds be used to begin this program. Hattonsville this former agricultural community has long been designated for industrial reuse in the general plan. Natural development activities occurred in the area for several years in the early i970's until private land assemblage was no longer possible and public improvements supporting industrial facilities were not available. This situation resulted in the Hattonsville non-residential corridor remaining almost stagnant and increasingly blighted, part industrial and part residential, with the area's residents left in an uncertain situation. Therefore, it is recommended that $845,000 be allocated to begin a program of land assemblage to maximize the development potential of this section, thus bringing this component of the new and former comprehensive plan to fruition. Recent interest in existing facilities such as evidenced by ~.T.T. Gwaltney, along with the advent of the new 1-264 tunnel and Bowers Hi11/664 Beltway, make this area an ideal port and highway related indus- trial area. From the housing side, substantial rehabilitation is proposed to be the primary vehicle for meeting the City of Portsmouth's housing needs for 1981. The exhibit at the front delineates those census tracts wh~re ~ubstantial rehabilitation under the Section 8 Program will be permitted." The following citizens spoke: O'Neal B. Taylor, 1304 Roosevelt Boulevard, representing Norfolk-Portsmouth Citizens Committee for Economic Development presented the following letter: "As most ~f you may be aware, the Norfolk and Portsmouth City Councils formed the No~folk-Portsmouth Citizens Committee for Economic Development (NOCCED) in 1975 as a two-city advisory body. The purposes of this organization are to formulate plans and programs designed to increase employment.opportunities and broaden the economic base of each municipality. NPCCED has developed and maintained a work program pursuant to this mandate, with iIs most recent accomplishment being the completion of the Southside II Industrial mini-Park and the location of Virginia Products Corporation there~n. During the past five years, ~he Committee has worked closely with the Portsmouth Indus- trial Development Authority (PIDA), the Portsmouth Port and Industrial Commission (P~IC), the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority (PRHA), and the City administration td insure that its programs were well coordinated with those of the four aforementioned entities. As an example, an application ~6r.~FeHe~al~fu~ng of a drainage project at the former Georgia Pacific property on Chautauqua Avenue has been prepared by City staff and submitted to the Economic Development Administration at the direction of the Committee. It is intended that jointly with the Portsmouth Port and Industrial Commission, the property's owner, new economic activity can be attracted once the drainage project is completed. This is in keeping with our intent to complem~nt~the activities of other eonomic groups whenever possible. Each year the Norfolk-Portsmouth Citizens Committee for Economic Development updates its strategy so that it is consistent with the previously stated goals. Recently, we have