ST. LOUIS 鈥 With an estimated 7,100 abandoned structures today, vacancy is a bigger problem than the city can handle on its own.
But a formal working relationship between the city, legal clinics, community development organizations and neighborhood nonprofits is close, those working on city vacancy issues say. They鈥檙e working to create a 鈥渧acancy advisory committee,鈥 overseen by a dedicated staff member, to coordinate resources from the public and nonprofit worlds.
And several organizations, including the city, have recently supplemented their blight-fighting efforts with new staff and funding.
鈥淪o many people have come together on this, and that is the reason I think we鈥檒l make some good progress here,鈥 Mayor Lyda Krewson said Tuesday morning, standing before a coalition of area groups that are working on problem property issues.
People are also reading…
The nonprofit Legal Services of Eastern Missouri this month hired Peter Hoffman to lead its new . Hoffman headed the nonprofit clinic that helped neighborhood groups address vacant properties in Kansas City, a program 最新杏吧原创 officials hope to emulate.
鈥淲e will hold absentee and negligent property owners accountable through litigation,鈥 Legal Services Executive Director Dan Glazier said.
The 最新杏吧原创 Development Corporation, the city鈥檚 economic development arm, hired its own staff member, former Development Strategies analyst , to coordinate vacancy efforts across city departments.
Soulard and Lafayette Square serve as powerful examples of historic preservation realized, but many other areas have been waiting so long for developers that falling debris is part of the backdrop. The city vows to raze more buildings聽鈭 including some of its own.
鈥淗e鈥檚 going to be reaching out to all these agencies working in this ecosystem,鈥 SLDC Director Otis Williams said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 working both the public and private piece to try and pull it all together.鈥
Krewson, meanwhile, . The to create green space that can absorb rainfall.
A big boost could come in court, where . A majority supported it, but there鈥檚 disagreement over the margin necessary to issue bonds. 鈥淚t would be a really big opportunity for us to make a difference,鈥 Krewson told the Post-Dispatch.
She also said that she intends to sign a bill passed by the Board of Aldermen on Monday that would remove an exemption on code violation fees within a redevelopment area. Bill sponsor Cara Spencer has pointed out that many such properties are in developer in north 最新杏吧原创, which critics contend has been allowed to further deteriorate since the developer began assembling property there 15 years ago.
With fees of less than $1,000 per year for noncompliant properties, the mayor called the measure a small but important piece to the city鈥檚 vacancy efforts. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to encourage people to take steps and fix up their building or sell that building to someone who will.鈥
Coordinating the different efforts will be a full-time job.
Program will help reduce sewer overflows while helping the city demolish derelict buildings.
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to maintain momentum around work like this without someone dedicated to making sure people are moving in the same direction,鈥 said Jenny Connelly-Bowen of the Community Builders Network, a nonprofit association of community development groups.
A grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health and support from the Missouri Department of Conservation will allow .
鈥淚t鈥檚 a dedicated staff person whose mental energy is completely focused so that this collaborative group of experts is moving toward the goal of tackling vacancy in a meaningful and effective way,鈥 she said.
Photos: Vacant, crumbling properties number about 7,100 in city
Vacant, crumbling properties balloon to 7,000
The icon of the downtown 最新杏吧原创 skyline rises above the vacant shell of a home in the 1400 block of Chambers Street in the Old North neighborhood on Friday, March 16, 2018. More than 7000 homes are vacant, and many falling apart, in the city of 最新杏吧原创. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Vacant, crumbling properties balloon to 7,000
Shoes sit on a porch of a vacant home on North Florissant Avenue in Hyde Park on Feb. 15, 2018. More than 7,000 homes are vacant, and many falling apart, in the city of 最新杏吧原创. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Vacant, crumbling properties balloon to 7,000
The former D's Style Barber and Beauty Salon in the 4600 block of 最新杏吧原创 Avenue in the Greater Ville, is boarded and closed on Aug. 17, 2017. More than 7,000 homes and businesses are vacant in the city of 最新杏吧原创. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Vacant, crumbling properties balloon to 7,100
A 最新杏吧原创 city sweeper runs along Bishop P.L. Scott Avenue, seen from the burned shell of a home in the 3900 block of Aldine Avenue in the Greater Ville neighborhood on Friday, March 16, 2018. More than 7,000 buildings are vacant, and many falling apart, in the city of 最新杏吧原创. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Vacant, crumbling properties balloon to 7,100
Two vacant homes are crumbling in the 2800 block of 最新杏吧原创 Avenue in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood on March 16. More than 7,000 buildings are vacant, and many falling apart, in the city of 最新杏吧原创.聽
Vacant houses in Old North
A man walks past a decaying vacant townhouse along the 1400 block Madison Street in Old North on Friday, March 23, 2018. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Falling bricks in Hyde Park
Bricks lay in the street in front of the 1400 Destrehan Street on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in Hyde Park. A city official with the Department of Forestry drove down the street by happenstance and saw the recent fallen bricks. He was going to call it to be taped off. He chose not to pick up the bricks so people would see hazard of falling bricks. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Squatters in vacant building
A bedroll can bee seen in a vacant house without a backside along the 2600 block of Howard Street on Thursday, March 23, 2018, in 最新杏吧原创. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
In this Series
Post-Dispatch coverage: A city overwhelmed by vacant, abandoned buildings
Jacob Barker
Reporter
