Before there could be a changing of the guard April 13 at City Hall, a series of bills already in the works received the attention of Springfield City Council.
A pair of bills designed to eliminate blighted designations where remediation had occurred were unanimously approved for the areas around University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center and Missouri State University.
Around University Plaza, the redevelopment area established in 1983 included the former Sears department store, now the Springfield Exposition Center, and the University Inn motel, which became University Plaza’s convention center.
The MSU blighted district – bordered by Cherry and Grand streets and Holland and National avenues – dated back to 1965, city officials have said, and a swath of properties west of Holland remain blighted.
The blight designation, which requires conditions such as unsafe or unsanitary structures and obsolete platting, has been around since the 1960s, but it gained traction in recent years with developers largely focused on student-housing projects.
In January, concerns about the prevalence of blight were clearly voiced when three center city projects simultaneously sought abatements on new improvements in blighted districts. Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky inquired as to how the city could “unblight” properties that had been remediated, fearing tax breaks could come in the future to developers building in areas where rundown conditions are no longer present.
At the April 13 meeting, Councilman Jerry Compton applauded the measure to remove the blight designation specifically around University Plaza.
“This is an example of how our economic development policies can work,” he said. “One building was empty, and the other area was underutilized. With this, we were able to redevelop it into a productive area and spur a lot of development in that area. Now that it’s coming off blight, it will continue to generate revenue.”
In related action, council unanimously approved fee increases for developers seeking tax abatements on new improvements in blighted areas. Springfield Planning and Development Director Mary Lilly Smith said the fee changes are designed to recover 100 percent of the city’s estimated costs associated with processing blight and tax-incentive proposals.
The approved bill increases fees for the 25-year Chapter 353 abatements to $2,038 from $1,245 and changes three fees for the 10-year Chapter 99 abatements. Fees for a Chapter 99 redevelopment plan and blight report are now $1,752, up from $750, while the cost for work on a redevelopment plan moves to $1,364 from $750. The application fee for a Chapter 99 abatement request now costs $359, up from $250.
Airport grant Council unanimously approved an ordinance that allows the Springfield-Branson National Airport to accept a $375,000 grant from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for air-service marketing and promotions.
Aviation Director Brian Weiler told council members the money comes from a state aviation trust fund, which is supported by a state tax on aviation fuel. “Last year, the airport sold not quite $7 million in fuel, so we’ve been contributing to this fund,” he said, adding the grant requires a 10 percent match from the airport. “We will be able to significantly increase our media presence in both TV and in radio. In fact, we are working on commercials as we speak.”
Beyond TV and radio ads, Weiler said the money would be used to conduct a passenger satisfaction survey, establish a customer-feedback kiosk, utilize an air-service consultant and analyze cargo operations to explore expansion opportunities. “Cargo does not make up a huge part of our operations. We do have nightly FedEx and UPS flights,” he said, noting about 30 million pounds of cargo fly in and out of the airport every year.
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
