Planning commission eyes blighted designation

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook Planning Commission will consider adding the designation of West Fifth and D Streets as blighted and substandard, along with creating two new areas with the designation, at its meeting Monday, Dec. 9, 5:15 p.m. at city council chambers at the city municipal building.

A public hearing will start off the meeting. A study done by Miller and Associates has identified a new area that can be designated as blighted and substandard in Redevelopment Area 3 (first developed in 2013) and identifies two new redevelopment areas for the blighted and substandard designation, 4 and 5.

The City of McCook has created three redevelopment areas that have been designated as blighted and substandard and thus eligible to use Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Projects using TIF in the past have been Clary Village and Quillan Courts, Cobblestone Hotel, Holiday Inn Express and Valmont.

Redevelopment Area 3 stretches from U.S. Highway 83 to East 11th Street. An amendment in 2015 included the Four Corners Addition to McCook. With the proposed 2019 amendment, additional land would join Area 3 with the intersection of West Fifth Street and West D Street. This area includes commercial property such as the “Charley’s” building on West Fifth. In order to assure that the city meets the requirements of the Nebraska Community Development law, city staff proposes to include 13 residential homes adjacent to the current Redevelopment Area 3, according to the city staff report. The city staff report notes that a blighted and substandard designation has little or no negative impact property valuations but allows for new growth and improvement more likely.

The proposed Redevelopment Area 4 is located just east of the intersection of U.S. Highway 83/U.S. Highways 6 and 34. This area includes several commercial buildings and residential homes north of Highway 6 and 34. Redevelopment Area 4 is a stand-alone location and is not part of Redevelopment Area 3, although it is contiguous to Redevelopment Area 3

The proposed Redevelopment Area 5 is located partially in and outside the city limits, on the east side of U.S Highway 83 and the north side of West Q Street. It includes commercial buildings and a few residential structures and is contiguous to Redevelopment Area 3. The Nebraska Community Development Law allows for the inclusion of a portion of land located outside city limits in the designated redevelopment area. An example of this happened with the inclusion of land located north of West J and U.S. Highway 83 as part of Redevelopment Area 3.

In early 2019, the McCook City Council approved a resolution forwarding the Blight and Substandard Study to the McCook Planning Commission. At Monday’s meeting, the Planning Commission will review the study and make a recommendation to the council whether to move forward or not.

The Planning Commission will also receive and file an update regarding the City of McCook's Two Mile Extra Territorial Jurisdiction. The City of McCook Planning Commission met with the Red Willow County Planning Commission in February to discuss changing the two mile “extra territorial jurisdiction” of the city.

City staff would like to move the extra territorial jurisdiction that bisects Calabria, to the south of the housing development, while continuing to maintain building code ordinances by contracting with Red Willow County.