Moments after John Acker of the Columbus Redevelopment Authority made his first pitch to the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors Friday, he compared the meeting to a “first date.”
Expanding on that metaphor, we suggest it could also have been considered a blind date. Until Friday, the supervisors – whose money the CRA needs to make its plans viable – had, to our knowledge, played no role in the CRA. The five-member board was appointed by Columbus Mayor Robert Smith in August without any consultation or input from the supervisors.
Although supervisors had heard of the CRA’s plans to redevelop five blocks in the Burns Bottom area of the city through media accounts, it wasn’t until Friday that Acker made a direct pitch.
Like a lot of first dates, it didn’t go particularly well.
Supervisors were polite, but firm in their resistance to the CRA plan.
The CRA wants to purchase 68 parcels owned by 50 owners, and sell it to the developer(s) they choose for the project. The idea is to replace the existing homes, many of them in ill repair, with a residential/retail development.
The supervisors have their own idea of what should happen; they prefer to convert the area into a green-space, an extension (and land for expansion, if needed) of the Columbus Soccer Complex. Although the county has yet to formulate any real plan to achieve that, it seems the CRA’s interest may spur the county to be more aggressive on that front.
“If there are willing sellers, we (the supervisors) are willing buyers,” Board of Supervisors President Harry Sanders said.
Although Acker struck an optimistic tone after the meeting, it’s pretty clear that there won’t be a “second date” and one has to wonder if Friday’s meeting is not the death knell of the CRA, which was counting on the county for the one thing it needs most: funding.
Even though the cost of the land of the land is a relatively modest $1.18 million (based on estimated market value), the city and the CRA doesn’t have the money. Outside of the county, it’s difficult to see where the CRA could obtain that revenue. The city’s current budget was passed with a $300,000 shortfall and raising taxes to fund the CRA through a bond issue – a strategy employed by the city of Tupelo to fund its successful redevelopment effort – seems highly unlikely. The city raised taxes by 1.1 mills for to fund a $5 million street/drainage bond in June. It is unlikely another tax increase would be an option.
That said, there is much to like about the city’s redevelopment efforts. It put together a board of respected businessmen. The plans they developed addresses serious issues facing the city that should not be ignored.
Redeveloping blighted areas of the city serves many functions: It addresses a shortage of good housing, removes blight, raises property values (and the tax revenue that comes with it) and could help enhance the city’s image.
On this latter point, a chicken-and-egg debate emerged during Friday’s meeting with the supervisors. The CRA believes that redevelopment will help rebuild the city’s struggling schools by bringing young, involved parents into the schools and reduce crime, which always seems to be more prevalent in run-down neighborhoods.
Leroy Brooks, whose district includes the Burns Bottom area, argued the opposite point: Show people that the schools are improving and crime is going down and redevelopment will naturally follow.
We believe Burns Bottom is an appealing area for redevelopment and while expansion of the soccer park is an idea easy to like, so is residential/retail development, which contributes to the city’s tax base.
There is nothing to suggest, based on that “first date,” that the supervisors aren’t in the mood to be courted, though.
That’s how it goes with first dates sometimes.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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