FARRELL City must buy homes for project
The project focuses on the expansion of Hillside Industrial Park.
FARRELL, Pa. -- The residents of four homes living in the Northwest Gardens section of the city will have to be relocated as part of a plan to expand light industrial development in that area.
The Farrell Planning Commission officially declared the targeted area as blighted this week, and city council is expected to concur with that decision at its meeting March 25.
The targeted area is roughly bounded by Broadway Avenue on the west, Crago Street on the east, French Street on the south and George Street and the Sharon border on the north.
Mark Yerskey, city code and zoning officer, said the area has been targeted for redevelopment for years, but the city never had the money to do it.
State grant: A $500,000 Pennsylvania grant approved last year made the difference. The city is also putting up $500,000.
The plan focuses on the expansion of the Hillside Industrial Park on Overlook Avenue.
Yerskey said there were six occupied homes in the targeted area when the plan was first proposed, but now there are only four.
The city will have to buy those homes and pay to relocate their occupants, he said.
Bad shape: The area has overgrown lots, substandard housing and streets that are in poor condition, leading the planning commission to declare it as blighted, Yerskey said.
That blight was extended to include a small area at the foot of Florida Street near Broadway Avenue, he said.
Some streets in the targeted area will be rebuilt and extended, others will be torn up, and all old buildings will be razed as the city creates large building parcels zoned for light industrial use.