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Developer says omission from CRAs left five Falls Glen lots at a disadvantage
Summary
Developer Mr. Valore told council he discovered five Falls Glen lots were excluded from a previously approved state Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) abatement, and asked council to consider remedies including reopening the abatement or modifying the CRA; the law director warned of precedent risks and state filing requirements.
Developer Mr. Valore told the March 24 work session he purchased and redeveloped Falls Glen and that five remaining lots were effectively excluded from a tax-abatement package that other nearby developments received. He described the development history — initial approvals in 2008, later purchases and building between 2019 and 2022, donations of two lots to St. Jude, and last recorded home sale on Feb. 17, 2022 — and said he only learned the abatement had been removed while seeking a spring building permit. "All of a sudden, when we went to apply for a building permit for the spring market that is when he found out the abatement was gone," Mr. Valore said, saying the omission reduced the competitiveness of his remaining five lots.
Law Director Rieker explained the Community Reinvestment Area program is administered by the State of Ohio and requires an adopted city ordinance and an accompanying map to be filed with the state. Rieker outlined three options council could consider: (A) apologize but leave the current abatement determinations in place; (B) reopen the abatement to include the five lots (which would require redraw of the map and a state filing); or (C) pursue a different modification to the CRA to cover similar 'spot' lots. Rieker cautioned that reopening the program could invite additional requests from other property owners and that council should do due diligence to identify any other eligible parcels before proceeding.
