Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Olive Boulevard Distressed Parcels topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
EDC spotlights distressed Olive Boulevard parcels, discusses incentives and cross-access easements
Summary
Planning staff identified multiple underperforming parcels along Olive Boulevard — including small, aging buildings and a vacant former bridal shop — and commissioners discussed code enforcement limits, easement strategies and facade-improvement programs as tools to encourage reinvestment.
At the meeting, Dawn Doty, senior planner, presented a map of underperforming and small-footprint parcels along Olive Boulevard and named several specific properties — the former Turek building, a small law office (9306), a dentist building (9318), Enchanted Bride and the former Hanger Prosthetics site — describing deterioration, maintenance gaps and limited redevelopment potential for narrow parcels.
Doty said some parcels are zoned single-family residential and would require rezoning for nonresidential reuse; she noted the city already controls some right-of-way strips and has acquired cross-access easements in other locations to improve circulation. She described a common development barrier on the corridor: parcels that are deep but very narrow, making conventional redevelopment costly and complicating parking and accessibility.
Why it matters: these parcels shape Olive Boulevard’s corridor character and pedestrian experience. Commissioners and staff discussed whether the city should continue a largely reactive posture (code inquiries and possible citations) or take a more proactive approach — for example, offering facade-improvement grants, pursuing state “great streets” or infrastructure grants, or using redevelopment incentives tied to easements and approvals.
Commissioners and staff weighed enforcement against collaboration. Doty explained the code-enforcement process and why issuing citations can push cases to court, removing city control of timing and remedies: “Once we issue a citation... it becomes a court type of issue,” she said. Several commissioners urged offering “carrots” such as façade grants or business-license waivers, while noting the program and funding rules would need to be designed.
Staff outlined existing levers the city has used elsewhere — cross-access easements acquired during redevelopment approvals, targeted outreach and negotiating site improvements as part of discretionary approvals — and suggested the EDC can help by compiling a prioritized list of parcels and by recommending specific incentive tools or funding sources. Commissioners asked staff to research facade-improvement program models, state grant sources, and whether TIF or other incentives used on larger projects could be scaled or adapted for small-parcel contexts.
Ending: The commission asked staff to return with options for proactive tools (facade grant rules, potential grant sources, and a communications/outreach plan) and to consider small electronic business-owner surveys and GIS-based property summaries to support targeted outreach.
