Council fails to renew Cortex blight determination after close vote

A motion to third-read and finally pass board bill 68, which would have renewed prior blight determinations for the Cortex redevelopment area and thereby extended redevelopment corporation powers, failed on a roll call at the Oct. 24 meeting. The tally was 7 ayes and 5 nays; eight votes were required for final passage.

Issue summary Board bill 68 would have renewed earlier city findings and redevelopment authority for the Cortex West redevelopment area, a long-running downtown development initiative. Supporters said renewing the blight determination was a routine step to allow the redevelopment corporation to continue long-term redevelopment activities. Opponents objected to the delegation of eminent-domain authority to a private redevelopment corporation and argued the city should reserve eminent-domain use for direct government purposes.

Vote and rationale The alderman from the ninth moved for final passage and asked for favorable consideration; the alderwoman from the twelfth restated an objection to giving eminent-domain authority to private entities and said she would vote no for principle. On roll call the motion failed to achieve the required eight votes.

Outcome and implications The failure to renew the blight determination means the redevelopment corporation will not have renewed statutory authority via this board bill to exercise eminent-domain rights tied to the prior determination. Sponsors may reintroduce, seek alternative amendments, or pursue other paths, but the recorded final-vote failure ended the measure at final passage in this session.