Coordinate policies to redevelop vacant properties in Valley, group urges

By David Skolnick

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown and its surrounding communities need to look at vacant properties as assets and not liabilities.

That is one of the main points of a new study, “Regenerating Youngstown and Mahoning County Through Vacant Property Reclamation,” that offers recommendations about addressing vacant property issues, primarily in Youngstown.

Youngstown’s property vacancy rate is 43.7 percent, according to a recent survey.

The study’s recommendations are also applicable to communities including Austintown, Boardman, Struthers and Campbell, said Margaret Murphy, project manager for the Youngstown-Mahoning County Vacant Property Initiative, which commissioned the study.

Murphy is executive director of Wick Neighbors Inc., an organization working to develop the city’s Smoky Hollow area.

Members of the vacant property initiative include public officials, members of nonprofit organizations, business leaders and citizens.

The group met for 18 months to recommend revisions to existing ways, and introduce new proposals, to prevent and reclaim vacant property.

The report urges the communities and the county to coordinate policies on preventing properties from becoming vacant and revitalize those that are already abandoned, Murphy said.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindcator and on Vindy.com.