A.G. Gancarski
The Jacksonville City Council special ad hoc committee on Neighborhood Improvement and Community Enhancement discussed, as did Finance earlier on Monday, 2015-322, which Chief of Staff Kerri Stewart called a “three-year strategy” for fund allocation for affordable housing programs.
Councilman John Crescimbeni asked Stewart interesting questions about Mayor Lenny Curry being on the Housing Commission, noting a “lot of meeting cancellations” because of a lack of quorums and dissatisfaction among committee members about those cancellations and “emergency meetings” of the same group.
Councilwoman Joyce Morgan also asked about the vacancies.
“There are four vacancies” that council could act on quickly. As well, there are two mayoral vacancies that the administration will address quickly.
The committee “moved” the legislation, insofar as it can as an ad hoc committee without binding authority.
• Also discussed: the “residential donations” bill, 2015-519, which would increase the value limit from $25,000 to $50,000 for abandoned property that the city may donate, occasioned discussion. It would cover abandoned properties with structures, or just vacant land.
Lori Boyer reiterated the three types of properties, which include abandoned and buildable lots, and lots with a structure on them. The question: how to assure that affordable housing is created. Another question: how to rank and score applications; the current process favors nonprofits over for-profit entities.
Boyer also mentioned the disposition of surplus properties being determined by the relevant district council member, which she sees as a potential source of “ethical violations.”
There is a “reverter clause” in the bill for those who don’t comply with requirements. Councilman Bill Gulliford noted that the program is being used throughout Detroit with success, and noted that abandoned houses are located throughout the city, including even waterfront property. That suggests a robust program of this type could diffuse affordable housing throughout Jacksonville.
• Another hot-button topic: the age-old question of whether Jacksonville residents can back their cars into their driveways, related to complaints about junk cars and covered cars, related to two bills that have been hanging around since the old council was in place.
In 2015, 4,580 junk vehicle complaints have been made, according to Crescimbeni. The bulk of them are in minority-access districts 7, 8, 9, and 10, as well as District 1.
In other major Florida cities, covered vehicles aren’t really addressed by municipal code (except St. Petersburg, which requires that the cover be six inches above the ground, with a visible tag number).
Crescimbeni: “I don’t mind being a pioneer, but I’m not sure we’re going in a good direction here.”
Committees will mull these pressing issues, along with so-called “snipe signs,” going forward.
• Councilman Gulliford mentioned that the process will move forward on “land banking,” “lazy assets,” and “zombie mortgages” in the coming months. Those issues create a real problem with vacant property management, and contribute to blight.
Gulliford mentioned that commercial property, “especially in the more depressed neighborhoods,” could also be used for economic development purposes. Boyer responded that there needs to be meaningful delineation between criteria for commercial and residential properties.
