Youngstown looking to develop four blighted areas for 'industrial green' businesses

YOUNGSTOWN

The city hired a company to do a “slum and blight analysis” of four areas that could be redeveloped for “industrial green” businesses.

The board of control signed a $25,000 deal Thursday with CT Consultants, with an office in Youngstown, to determine if the locations meet the state criteria of blighted parcels and if the areas meet the required threshold of 70 percent to be eligible as an urban renewal area, said T. Sharon Woodberry, the city’s director of community planning and economic development.

The long-term plan would be to acquire the largely vacant property through either fair-market purchases or eminent domain and make the land available for industrial green businesses, such as distribution warehouses and light manufacturing companies, Woodberry said.

The study should be done by May 31.

Read more about the parcels and the plan in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.