May 25 hearing scheduled for new Neighborhood Plan

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Another public hearing to discuss a plan for neighborhoods is scheduled for May 25.|ret||ret||tab|

The Neighborhoods Plan Element of Vision 20/20 was the subject of a public hearing before the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission March 16, but was sent back to city staff for more work after nearly three hours of testimony on the document. Staff reviewed the concerns, categorized them and responded to them, said Fred May, director of Planning & Development.|ret||ret||tab|

"We identified five key areas of concern," May said.|ret||ret||tab|

The plan will be before Planning and Zoning again at its May 25 meeting. May said the commission could make a recommendation at that time, and the document would then go to City Council for its approval.|ret||ret||tab|

The five areas of concern were identified by trade groups and neighborhood representatives. Three trade groups in particular the Springfield Apartment and Housing Association, the Springfield Board of Realtors and the Home Builders Association of Springfield substantial concerns with the plan, and outlined those at the March 16 meeting.|ret||ret||tab|

The five areas of concern and staff's responses are as follows:|ret||ret||tab|

Code inspection at time of sale. This is an example of one method that could be used if housing conditions merit it, May said. Staff said that this paragraph can be deleted from the document.|ret||ret||tab|

Housing court. This is also something that staff said could be deleted from the document, but it is an example of how some communities are handling housing concerns, May said. The trade groups were concerned that this would take housing concerns outside the judicial system. |ret||ret||tab|

Systematic inspections. In 1996, City Council rejected a comprehensive systematic code enforcement process for exterior maintenance. Housing Code is now enforced on a complaint-only basis. The plan in the Vision 20/20 document calls for reviewing an earlier plan, the Project Neighborhood Preservation program, which was successful through voluntary compliance. May said the Vision 20/20 plan does not recommend systematic housing inspections, but rather focuses on this earlier plan. Staff recommended that component of the Vision 20/20 document not be removed.|ret||ret||tab|

Registration and inspection of rental property. Staff also recommends that this section remain. This part of the document continues the practice, already in place, of registering rental property, and it does not address inspection of rental property, May said.|ret||ret||tab|

Housing design. Staff recommends leaving this section in with some wording changes. Concepts outlined in this section are merely suggestions for future development in the community, May said.|ret||ret||tab|

The document is also going back to trade groups and neighborhoods with the suggested changes.|ret||ret||tab|

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