Ozark seeks proposals for blighted acreage

The city and its Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority are requesting developer proposals for a mixed-use urban neighborhood immediately west of Ozark’s downtown square. The intent is to revitalize the blighted 46-acre area now known as the Finley River Neighborhood Redevelopment District, said Steve Childers, Ozark city planner.

“What we want to see is whenever you pull over the Finley River and you … go across the bridge and hit that corner right there going into downtown, we want you to feel like you’re stepping back in time 75 years,” Childers said. “We want to see a very architecturally rich design. We want to have streetscapes, nice sidewalks, make it a very pedestrian-friendly development. We are doing a lot of work on our downtown area right now and we want to make sure what we do here complements those efforts. We’re going to look at brick structures and I guess, if you will, make it like a Chesterfield Village, just on a smaller scale.”

Developers may submit proposals to the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority until April 29, and presentations will be made at the LCRA’s May 12 meeting. The LCRA will then develop a short list of candidates to proceed with final plan designs. A date for the final decision has not been announced.

The Finley River Neighborhood Redevelopment District begins at the Finley River and goes east on Third Street to Oak Street. It follows a ravine behind the Ozark Motel, travels down Third Street frontage to Church Street, goes west to North Eighth Street, and includes The Old Cheese Factory building on Hall Street. The area’s current use is 85 percent residential and 15 percent commercial. The commercial property is 10 percent vacant.

Childers said that the central business district’s inadequate infrastructure, deteriorating water and sewer systems, crumbling sidewalks and dilapidated housing are all factors that contribute to downtown being economically underutilized. One of the project objectives is to attract people to the center city area and re-establish historic downtown as a commercially vibrant area.

Bobbi Wixson, LCRA chairperson and owner of Hazel’s Flowers at 121 N. Second St. since 1989, said the proposed mixed-use area will be a positive change for Ozark that will help attract new businesses to the redevelopment area.

“My aim as a chairperson is to make sure that this is done in a proper manner with everyone keeping in mind the wishes of those that reside and own property within the area in order to modernize the area, bring up the infrastructure, make their property more valuable to them as well as the community as a whole,” she said.

The new project, Wixson said, will have a “synergistic relationship” with projects completed on the square in 2004. Trees were planted, sidewalks and storefronts were renovated, period lighting was installed and downtown’s water and sewer lines were repaired in Phase I of the square’s redevelopment. That work cost $300,000 and was made possible by the Main Street Organization and a community development block grant, Childers said.

A budget for the Finley River project has not been established. “That’s part of this process too,” Childers said. Property blighted by the LCRA has not been purchased by the city, but that remains a possibility. “What we’re having to look at is, are we going to actually purchase it and then resell it to the developer … or once we’ve seen their plans through the circulation of this request for proposal, are we going to choose a plan and then both of us purchase some of the property,” he said.

Childers doesn’t anticipate big changes taking place immediately. “Acquisition of properties, removal of some existing structures, some changes in the area – I think you’ll be seeing some changes in the area in 2005. Maybe some cleaning up of some natural areas and some planning for the linear parks. But, as far as brand-new construction, I would say a more realistic timeframe would be 2006 maybe,” he said.

Ozark voters established the LCRA Feb. 3, 2004, by accepting the provisions of the Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority Law. The LCRA has authority to classify property as blighted and unsanitary for the purpose of redevelopment.