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canfield Officials aim to boost city’s economic development
CANFIELD
City Manager Wade Calhoun said “it’s an exciting time for Canfield,” with several new steps taken in 2018 to boost the city’s economic profile.
During a recent meeting, city officials voted to create a Community Improvement Corp., a nonprofit that can buy or mortgage land and loan or borrow money for development purposes.
“As a city, we’re not in the business of going and buying and selling property,” Calhoun said. “The CIC can act as that economic development agent.”
The CIC will be overseen by a nine-person board comprised of council members, Calhoun and citizens who will be appointed within the next month, City Attorney Mark Fortunato said.
In the short-term, the group will determine how best to develop the newly annexed 280-acre Red Gate Farm, near the intersection of South Palmyra Road and U.S. Route 62 in the township.
The CIC will continue to review other properties to purchase, resell or redevelop, Calhoun said.
The city has formed two such corporations in the last several decades, but didn’t really make use of them, officials said.
Officials last summer met with potential area partners on development of a comprehensive plan that would coordinate the organizational goals of the city, township, and local schools, among others. The 12- to 18-month assessment could include studies on the area’s traffic, safety, utilities and future land uses, Calhoun said. The city’s last Strategic Vision Plan was published in 2004.
Calhoun and others on a comprehensive planning committee, including council members, opened requests last week for qualifications from five firms to develop the plan. The committee will score each submission and interview the top firms, he said.
In September, the city finalized the Red Gate annexation along with a Joint Economic Development District agreement for the Millennial Moments development set for an undeveloped 115 acres near the intersection of South Palmyra Road and U.S. Route 224, which could include 35,000 square feet of commercial, retail or office space, a country club and more than 200 community or residential living units.
Council contracted a firm last year to conduct an assessment of downtown Canfield’s vibrancy. Town Center Associates of Beaver, Pa., delivered that assessment in December. It reviewed the downtown area’s 98 parcels, its facades and signage and the composition of business types.
Ideally, retail should make up 40 percent of the downtown business mix, the study recommends. Currently, Canfield’s downtown is only 9 percent retail, the lowest percentage among five comparable municipalities including Salem, Lisbon and Columbiana.
The firm suggests city officials consider strengthening or adopting various zoning ordinances, including standards for vacant buildings which would require street-level property owners to maintain them.
Calhoun said zoning officials could look to create subdistricts inside current business-zoning categories while design and review officials define signage and facade standards to keep “the character of Canfield” intact.