London council hears developer pitch and resident concerns about proposed CRA for downtown property

Ordinance 140-25, a proposal to approve a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) agreement for properties at 36–42 West First Street, was discussed by the London City Council and members of the public Wednesday evening; the council did not adopt the ordinance and left the item on the agenda for a later meeting.

The measure would freeze assessed value for improvements for 15 years to incentivize redevelopment, but the transcript does not specify the abatement percentage. Resident Jim Boyd told the council he supports downtown revitalization in principle but said the draft lacks basic accountability and financial projections. “Do we know that amount? An auditor or a tax department report, do we have anything showing what that estimated would be?” Boyd asked, adding that the application shows TBD for projected revenues and employee counts, which he said hinders informed decision-making.

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