Jefferson City Council, Housing Authority pick top priorities for East Capitol Avenue revitalization

The Jefferson City Housing Authority Board met with City Council members Monday to lay out the next steps for revitalizing the blighted East Capitol Avenue area.

The group picked its top five priorities of which properties the housing authority should work to acquire first.

The five properties include 108, 401 and 403 East Capitol Avenue, along with 103 and 105 Jackson Street.

The top five were selected through the help of the public process held earlier this month where residents got a chance to vote on which homes they would most like to see rehabilitated.

The group also discussed how to choose homes after the top five and talked about considering homes with historical or architectural value as well as those which may pose a threat to health and safety.

The housing authority also sent letters to property owners in the blighted area to see which are willing to sell their properties to the housing authority or have a plan to fix the homes on their own.

The housing authority said its next steps will be to get appraisals of the properties and negotiate with the owners to acquire the blighted buildings.

The next step for the City Council is to work on an overlay district to protect the area.

“That would ensure that the architectural nature of those buildings and setbacks are all the same,” Second Ward Councilman Rick Mihalevich said. “It would kind of ensure that they don’t just ‘doze them down and make a parking lot or make a building that’s out of character for the neighborhood. So that’s a huge step, and I’m looking forward to moving that process as fast as possible.

Plans for the overlay district must first go through the city’s planning and zoning committee before going before City Council for debate.