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Merriam council adopts ordinance to add Project Plan O to I‑35 redevelopment district
Summary
The Merriam City Council voted unanimously to amend the I‑35 Redevelopment District to add Project Plan O (both sides of Slater), designating the area as a conservation area under state tax‑increment financing rules and authorizing steps to prepare city‑owned library properties for redevelopment.
The Merriam City Council voted unanimously to approve an ordinance amending the I‑35 Redevelopment District to add Project Plan O, a redevelopment area that covers parcels on both sides of Slater Street, city staff said.
The change designates the new area as a conservation area under state tax‑increment financing (TIF) law, making the parcels eligible for TIF tools the city could use later to support redevelopment or "make ready" work such as environmental remediation and demolition, City Administrator Chris Singles told the council.
The conservation‑area finding is intended to be an alternative to declaring the area blighted; Singles said the city chose the conservation route because many of the properties already were identified in an earlier blight study and the conservation option is faster. "Blighted is blighted. Conservation is you're sliding in the wrong direction and we want to try to keep that property from becoming blighted," Singles said.
City staff showed a map of the…
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