Plan riles Front St. property owners

The study concludes that a majority of the property at issue is blighted.
& lt;a href=mailto:rgsmith@vindy.com & gt;By ROGER SMITH & lt;/a & gt;
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The document is called a community development plan for the south end of downtown.
Some Front Street property owners call the plan a sham.
Property owners say the plan is a self-serving tool for the city to take their land for the proposed arena project.
"Their plan was done to fit the objective," said Scott Cochran, a lawyer with Atway and Cochran, which owns a building at 19 E. Front St.
His firm and other property owners are expected to voice complaints about the document at a 1:30 p.m. hearing Thursday before the city planning commission in council chambers.
John McNally IV, law director and commission chairman, declined comment. McNally said he first wanted to hear the city's consultant make a presentation on the plan at the hearing.
The city hired D.B. Hartt, a Cleveland planning and development consultant, to do the plan.
Defining the area
The document is a detailed evaluation of the buildings and 58 acres bounded by Front Street, the Mahoning River and the South Avenue and Marshall Street bridges. That includes the 35 acres between the South Avenue and Market Street bridges where the city is proposing to build an arena.
The document also suggests strategies for redeveloping the area. The consulting company said it drew those strategies from previous city plans.
A primary purpose for the document -- commonly called a slum and blight plan -- is to study and determine if more than half the area at issue is blighted.
Indeed, the study concludes that a majority of the area is blighted.
The study says that the city taking the land for redevelopment would constitute a "public purpose." The city must establish a public purpose before using methods such as eminent domain to take private property. Eminent domain is the government's right to take private property for public use. Determining how much the government pays for a property taken through eminent domain sometimes is determined in court.
Objections
Front Street property owners have all kinds of objections to the study and its conclusion.
Foremost, Cochran said the study doesn't include a financial plan for redeveloping the spot. A financial plan is required, he said.
He wonders why the study included land between the Market and Marshall Street bridges. He suspects the study needed buildings on the additional property, including the city hall annex and an old steel plant, to support the blight claim -- not because the city is going to develop that area.
Also, the study cites falling property values as evidence of deterioration. The study used values assigned for tax purposes, not appraisals. Cochran questions why the study used tax values. The city has done appraisals on his property and others.
Finally, Cochran questions the study's basis for calling some buildings substandard. The study cites an unplugged, unused stove in his office and a roof leak that already is fixed as reasons, he said. Cochran said his office, built in 1986, is in good shape.
Mike Timlin, co-owner of Timlin Plumbing and Drain Service, also said he can't understand how the study determined that his building at Market and Front Street is substandard.
"I don't see that. It's a great building, a great corner," he said.
Planning board member
Ray Jaminet, another Front Street property owner, shares similar concerns.
He called the study "bull." Some of the buildings within in the study area are substandard, but not a majority, he said.
Jaminet also objects to the study's suggestion that the city should change the zoning in the redevelopment area.
Such a change would lower his property's value, he said.
Jaminet also is a member of the planning commission. There is a question of what role, if any, he will play in the board deciding whether to recommend the plan to city council.
Property records list Jaminet as the trustee of land at 114 E. Front St. Also, records list his wife as a trustee of land at 23 and 29 E. Front.
McNally, the law director and chairman of the commission, said he may ask Jaminet to temporarily step back from the planning board. McNally said Jaminet should be able to voice his objections to the study like any other citizen. McNally said he doesn't believe, however, that Jaminet should contribute to the board's discussion or vote.
& lt;a href=mailto:rgsmith@vindy.com & gt;rgsmith@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;