By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

City council agreed to spend $375,000 to pay some people for property they own in a 21-acre location on the East Side the city is purchasing.

The money could also be used for legal fees if others in that area refuse to sell their homes to the city.

“If we have to take [properties] through eminent domain,” the city could use the money, said T. Sharon Woodberry, the city’s director of community planning and economic development department.

Council agreed to allocate the money Wednesday as well as change the zoning from residential to industrial green.

The location is between Oak Street, Himrod Avenue, Fruit Street and the Madison Avenue Expressway.

The city has deals in place with 11 property owners in that area, Woodberry said.

There are about 12 to 15 property owners in that location, including four in occupied houses, who don’t want to sell, she said.

Two of the four – Bertha Tillis and Natarasha Gillam, both of North Lane Avenue – objected at a Sept. 7 public hearing to the city’s decision.

Councilmen Julius T. Oliver, D-1st, and T.J. Rodgers, D-2nd – whose wards are in the 21-acre location – both said after the vote it was “unfortunate” some people would lose their homes, but they back the city’s decision to change the zoning.

“It’s the right thing for the city,” Rodgers said. “There are some people who don’t want to sell their homes. The area is mostly vacant. The proximity to downtown and access to the Himrod [Avenue] Expressway make it a good location for business development.”

The city doesn’t have any businesses interested in the location, but rezoning makes it more attractive to get companies there, Woodberry said.

Potential businesses at that location include light manufacturing, distribution centers, warehouses and storage facilities.

“It’s a delicate situation with people having to move,” Oliver said. “But we need to create jobs.”

The city made initial offers to property owners based on the Mahoning County auditor’s assessed values, and then made a second offer after appraisals were done, with some of the proposals being more and others being the same, Woodberry said.

The city doesn’t have a time line now as to when it would seek to take the properties through eminent domain, she said.

“We don’t want to take court action,” she said. “We’ve been able to successfully negotiate deals with 11 property owners and hope to do the same with the remaining others.”

Also, council withdrew an ordinance to grant a 100-percent, 15-year real-property tax abatement to the NYO Property Group for its project to convert the Stambaugh Building at 44 E. Federal St. into a 134-room DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.

Council will wait until the city school board decides on the abatement as that body’s approval is needed for any abatement of more than 75 percent and 10 years.

If the school board doesn’t agree to the proposed abatement by Oct. 3, council will consider the lesser abatement, Woodberry said.