OGDEN -- The city council agreed Tuesday night to hold a public hearing Aug. 10 for a proposed urban renewal project area plan in a blighted four-block section of downtown.
The plan addresses potential redevelopment of properties between 20th and 24th streets from Washington Boulevard to Adams Avenue.
Approval of the plan would make the area eligible for tax increment financing for commercial and residential property owners, which could help revitalize the languishing east-central section of the city, Richard McConkie, who is Ogden's community and economic director, said Tuesday night.
"This area has struggled for several years," he said.
The plan indicates if the entire project area were redeveloped with commercial, mixed-use and residential buildings within the next 20 years, the cumulative value of the investment would be about $99 million, said McConkie. An investment of that amount would generate about $17.2 million in tax increment that could be reinvested back into the project area, he added.
Redevelopment agencies, commonly referred to as RDAs, have the ability to offer financial incentives to developers in the form of tax increment. Tax increment is derived from the increased assessed value of development property in a designated RDA project area. The tax increment is then used by the RDA to provide infrastructure to the development.
The four-block area was declared blighted by the city council in April. The designation is meant to describe the condition of the area as a whole and is not intended to degrade any single property, according to a blight study by Bonneville Research, a Salt Lake City firm hired by the city.
Bonneville determined the area qualifies as blight because it meets the following standards:
* Consists primarily of nongreen field parcels.
* Is zoned for urban purposes.
SBlt At least 50 percent of the parcels contain non-agricultural or non-accessory buildings intended for residential, commercial or industrial uses.
SBlt The present condition or use of the project area substantially impairs the growth of the municipality.
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