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Residents in a Youngstown East Side area object to the city rezoning their neighborhood
YOUNGSTOWN
Residents in an East Side neighborhood are up in arms about the city rezoning their area – a change that possibly could displace them and/or build green industrial businesses there.
About 50 people attended Tuesday’s city planning commission meeting, which became contentious, to object to changing the zoning of their neighborhood from one-, two- and multifamily residential.
City council two months ago approved designating 21 acres around Himrod Avenue and North Prospect, Oak and North Fruit streets as an urban-renewal zone based on the commission’s recommendation.
That permits the city to negotiate the purchase of 19 properties from their owners and take them by paying fair market value if necessary, said Bill D’Avignon, Community Development Agency director.
“The plan calls for acquiring property and relocating people and using [the area] for green industrial businesses,” he said. “It’s a lot of vacant land. Most of the people who lived there have been gone for years.”
Miriam Ocasio, an attorney who represents at least one of the 19 property owners being displaced, said, “It’s embarrassing to give people X amount of dollars and tell them that they have to leave. Taking homes away from people is unfair. I’m not sure this is the correct area [to clear out residents]. You may want to take another look at this. It’s unfair and it’s wrong.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, the commission considered recommending to council changing the zoning from residential to green industrial for that location as well as one just south: an area around Himrod and Wilson avenues and South Pearl, Rigby and South Prospect streets.
The commission voted 2-2 on the zone changes. That means its three other members will read the meeting’s transcript and vote at the next meeting scheduled for July 19.
Those in the southern section said they were concerned that the zone change would lead to the loss of their homes and/or industrial businesses opening for business next to them.
Planning commission members didn’t put them at ease.
“Unfortunately, there isn’t anything definitive,” said Law Director Martin Hume, a commission member. “It allows certain businesses to come in.”
As of now, there are no potential buyers, he said while trying to stop some in the crowd from shouting.
Green industrial businesses include restaurants, warehouse and storage facilities, recycling centers and retail, D’Avingon said.
Tony Stone of Murdock Street in the southern location said additional businesses would mean “more trucks, more pollution and more noise. The trucks will be loud and tear up the roads. Will I have a wall put up next to my backyard? Are they going to build around us? I don’t want to give up my house.”
Stone asked, “Why do you want to come and disrupt our neighborhood? We need more information about what’s going on.”
Jose Rivera of North Lane Avenue said, “You can’t even answer our questions.”
In response, Hume said, “I’m trying to be as patient as I can be. It’s not a public forum to get information.”
This is a project different from what the city is doing to 3.9 miles of the Sharonline neighborhood, also on the East Side.
That area is uninhabited, and the city is shutting off utility lines and letting it go back to nature after demolishing nine abandoned houses.