Jefferson City Council approves East Capitol Avenue area renewal plan

Jefferson City is moving forward with efforts to restore the East Capitol Avenue area.

Monday, the city council held a public hearing and unanimously approved an urban renewal plan.

The plan aims to restore the historic neighborhood by encouraging property owners to renovate blighted properties or by acquiring the blighted properties and reselling them to those who will complete restorations.

One area property owner spoke at the public hearing saying he watched the area go downhill over the past few decades and was glad to see city leaders taking action.

Tuesday, the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners is set to meet to adopt a timeline for implementing the plan.

In the draft timeline, the first step will be to to request bids for appraisals of the nearly 70 properties that the plan recommends be acquired, according to Housing Authority Executive Director Cynthia Quetsch.

Then, the housing authority will send letters to the homeowners who are willing to rennovate their own properties.

If that does not work, Quetsch said the housing authority will hold a meeting and open public forum with the city council to get public input on which properties should be acquired first. The housing authority will set the list of priorities from there.

Quetsch said the housing authority hopes to complete those steps in the next couple of months.

“Our timeline is pretty aggressive because the mayor has really been pushing saying she really wants us to move forward and we want to work with her,” Quetsch said. “Plus, the longer we wait the more the deterioration happens. And we have some citizens who are very interested in renovating.”

The city council will vote on a funding agreement with the housing authority to remove the blight at its next meeting.

If passed, the housing authority will be responsible for paying the upfront cost to buy the homes and for reselling them. The city would be responsible for paying any difference in the purchasing and reselling costs.

The plan is estmated to be completed by the end of 2026.