Politics & Government

U. City Holds Last Community Meeting Ahead Of Likely TIF Vote

The next and likely final public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 23 at 6 p.m. at the University City High School.

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UNIVERSITY CITY, MO — City officials held the second of two neighborhood meetings in University City Friday evening to discuss a proposed $200 million development at Olive Boulevard and Interstate 170. Gregory Rose, the city manager, thanked about 50 mostly Third Ward residents for attending, saying: "The work that you are doing is extremely important and has the potential of having an impact not just on this generation but on future generations."

The 23-year TIF project is expected to cost taxpayers about $70 million, with the city hoping to reap a $10 million windfall that it will reinvest into the Third Ward and another $5 million for the Olive Business Corridor. At the meeting, residents were asked to rank how they would like to spend that money from five pre-chosen categories.

Those categories included:

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  • Improving quality of housing
  • Increasing home ownership
  • Maintaining Affordability
  • Upgrading infrastructure (roads, sidewalks, storm water)
  • Improving green space and parks

Rose said it was the city's eight or ninth meeting with stakeholders — including residents and business owners — though, as Patch has reported, some of those meetings saw little attendance. He said the city would report back on its outreach efforts to the TIF Commission at the next public hearing on Aug. 23.

"We certainly recognize the challenges that lay ahead of us, but simply recognizing them doesn't get anything accomplished," Rose said. "So the purpose for the meeting tonight is to really identify those challenges, to have you assist us in prioritizing those ... and the potential of having at least a significant amount of money in order to start trying to address them ..."

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Rose said the money would be leveraged to secure matching grants and could possibly exceed the promised amount. "There are 5,000 households, roughly, within the Third Ward. We intend to impact in a positive way each household," he said, adding that he intends to recommend additional funding for the Third Ward whether the TIF project is approved or not.

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Some residents at the meeting raised concerns about gentrification, a frequent side effect of similar development projects that can often price low-income residents out of their communities, leading to wealthier (and usually whiter) neighborhoods.

Third Ward council member Stacy Clay said gentrification isn't as much of an issue in the St. Louis area as it is in places like Atlanta or Harlem.

"We want the Third Ward to remain as it is," Clay said. "We want the composition to be the same. And so we're looking at what is happening in other areas and are the scenarios the same — do we see that kind of increase in home values? We don't generally see that here."

Depite those reassurances, residents say they're concerned rising home values will lead to higher property taxes and rental costs that they can't afford.

Reverse mortgages, managed by the city, might be one option to allow seniors to borrow on their equity to stay in their homes, staff said.

(A 2012 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that reverse mortgages are "complex products and difficult for consumers to understand," often leading to unforeseen risks. In some cases, they're simply scams. But the city said it would play an oversight role to protect Third Ward residents if that plan goes forward.)

Other programs could include home improvement grants or loans, targeted code enforcement, down payment assistance for new homeowners, tax assistance and forgiveness for low-income seniors, rent control or a community land trust — a non-profit corporation that would jointly own the land a home is built on, splitting the equity (and property tax base) among multiple homeowners to keep housing more affordable.

Right now, however, those are only examples of things the city might consider. Nothing is nailed down and nothing is in writing. Some residents say that's not good enough. They fear once the TIF is passed, the city's promises will melt into air, as they say they've seen happen time and again in the Third Ward.

Others accused the city of favoring homeowners at the expense of renters.

"There's just some class issues that are really troubling me," said Patricia Washington, who had led the push for a Community Benefits Agreement. "We keep talking about homeowners ... but we also keep talking about renters as though they are horrible, they are a drain, they are somehow responsible for the deterioration all by themselves of a ward that has historically been neglected, abandoned ..."

Washington said rental prices are already skyrocketing in her neighborhood, and that hardworking families who choose to rent will soon be priced out of their homes.

Rose said he is a renter himself (though not in the Third Ward) and understands those concerns.

"I recognize, as a renter, the individual that I rent from, it's a business for them," the city manager said. "So, why are we so committed to homeowner-occupied houses? Because you have invested in the community. You're not just going to pick up tomorrow and say, 'I'm going to the next best rental.' I certainly understand that issue, but our passion is for the people that have committed for generations and that have committed to homeowner-occupied, and I will tell you that I do not apologize for it."

Acting community development director Rosalind Williams blamed some of the Third Ward's poor conditions on out-of-town landlords who may be collecting rent from Florida.

"Those investors, a lot of them are taking over local control of communities," she said. "And, we can explain that later, but a lot of your neighbors are renting from investors who don't really know that they even have a house. ... Someone locally pays the rent and the rent goes to Florida."

(Some critics of the planned development have said the same of the rumored anchor tenant, Costco, which is headquartered in Issaquah, Washington.)

Residents wondered why the city isn't doing more to crack down on absentee landlords now.

"There are a lot of changes the city is trying to make in order to re-balance things that have happened," Williams said.

"How did you derive these categories?" one resident asked her later in the meeting. "Was this from public input or resident input?"

"Well," Williams said, "it really comes from — we're professional planners, and we understand what makes a neighborhood blighted. And these are the general categories. And in order to really make a difference ... to stop those investors, to improve housing, you have to decide how you're going to do it. And it can be a technical kind of project."

Community Benefits Agreement

Earlier in the week, about two dozen residents met at City of Life Christian Church to discuss a proposed Community Benefits Agreement, a legal contract that would spell out benefits to the Third Ward in writing and could address, among other things, racial equity, employment and housing issues. The specific details would be up to a coalition of residents and community groups to hammer out with the city and the developer.

But activists said time to form such a coalition is running out.

The issue has become so polarized that anyone for a CBA is branded as being against the overall project, which isn't necessarily true, one organizer said.

Some wondered aloud why the city wouldn't commit to a CBA when the city's promises and the requests of activists are seemingly so close together.

"I don't hear a lot of disagreement," the same organizer said. "What we want for the Third Ward, we all agree ... I don't have doubts the folks on the council are trying to do something good for the Third Ward. I don't doubt motives. It's amazing to me there's so much tension this close together."

Nonetheless, Rose said at the meeting Friday that a CBA is unlikely to happen.

"I think there are a number of weaknesses with the CBA," the city manager said. "One is, who is going to appoint that negotiating group? Will they have the financial wherewithal to enforce an agreement? Who is going to enforce the priorities? And how will that group be held accountable by the public?

"So, with those things in mind, if you look at a redevelopment agreement, who is accountable? Mayor and council, ultimately. Whose going to negotiate it? People that have significant experience in negotiating those sorts of agreement."

Rose said the city has already negotiated $15 million in benefits for Third Ward residents and business owners and that a CBA is unnecessary.

"...The question has been framed whether CBAs are good or bad. And that's not really the issue," Rose said. "It's whether CBAs are necessary or not. And we just simply don't believe that it's necessary in this instance, because there's a significant amount of community benefit already being extracted, and there's an intention to go over and above what's been discussed for the CBA."

But intentions aren't legally-binding, activists said.

The next public hearing is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the University City High School.

Photo by J. Ryne Danielson/Patch

A map of the proposed development:

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