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Item No: 6A Meeting Date: August 3, 2005 Type of Business: Business City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Planning Commission From: James Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Review Possible Acquisition of the Uninhabited and Blighted Residential Property Located at 2617 Sherwood Road Introduction: The property located at 2617 Sherwood Road is vacant and currently uninhabitable. The City’s has been involved with the property beginning in 1998 with the issuance of a building permit to make improvements to the home. The improvements went uninspected despite the city’s efforts to gain access to the property. Upon learning of several unsafe and potentially hazardous conditions within the home, notices of violations were issued, court citations issued and eventually warrants issued to the owner for failing to appear at the Court proceedings. During this same time, many other nuisance and building code violations were present and persistent. At some point, the owner defaulted on the mortgage and the City began anew with the mortgage company and a new owner in an effort to correct all of the unsafe conditions within the house and violations on the property. After repeatedly being told corrections would be made and not following through, the City brought action before the City Council on October 11, 2004 to declare the building hazardous and to authorize the abatement of the hazardous conditions. Discussion: In an effort to gain control of the property and put an end to the protracted legal proceedings, the City received permission from the property owner to conduct an appraisal of the property with the intent of submitting an offer to buy the parcel and demolish the building. The Council has authorized that an appraisal be conducted and a purchase price negotiated with the property owner. Before the City can acquire the land (if its offer is accepted) the Planning Commission will need to review the proposed acquisition to determine consistency with the Comprehensive Plan, as dictated by Minnesota Statutes. The future land use map designation for this parcel is Low Density residential. The zoning for the property is R-1, Single Family Residential. The purchase would be funded by the Economic Development Authority through the City’s Housing Replacement Program. The property is identified on the list of parcels that can be acquired using tax increment dollars. Housing Replacement Program Created in 1995, the Housing Replacement Program is a voluntary program that allows the City to purchase blighted residential properties from willing sellers. The purpose of the Housing Replacement Program is to reduce the social costs of blight, improve residential neighborhoods and increase the tax base. There are three stated objectives for this program—replace deteriorated lower value housing with larger, higher valued housing; eliminate blight; and increase the availability of quality housing for families. The home will likely be substandard in some way or exhibit some level of blight. This is defined as follows: