Difficulty obtaining rights of way has Pasco considering building street improvements in the Kurtzman Park neighborhood with some gaps in the sidewalk.
On Monday evening, the city council unanimously approved setting a Dec. 5 public hearing to consider forming a local improvement district, or LID, on parts of Hugo and Cedar avenues and Alton Street in east Pasco to pay for street improvements.
There are some properties within the boundaries that haven't allocated rights of way sufficient to add sidewalks, said Rick White, city community and economic development director.
The proposed LID is on Hugo and Cedar avenues between Lewis and Alton streets and the adjacent portion of Alton Street.
Properties within the LID boundaries that have not dedicated rights of way for the project would not get sidewalks, but street, curb and gutter would be installed, said City Manager Gary Crutchfield.
Property owners have been notified that they could be ordered to install sidewalks for safety reasons under city code, White said. And if the property owner gets a building permit, sidewalk installation would be required.
Those properties could decide to dedicate rights of way and still be folded into the project, White said. The project will not be designed until 2012.
City staff suggested leaving out the west part of Alton and Sycamore streets because the city hasn't been able to obtain enough rights of way for the street improvements
The city will notify each property owner of the Dec. 5 public hearing and provide them with cost estimates for the proposed LID, White said.
The project could cost about $628,000, and the city would use $200,000 from federal Community Development Block Grant to help pay for some of the improvements. The remainder would be paid by an assessment on property owners within the LID.
Block grant dollars also will be able to be used to pay assessments for low-income residents, according to city documents.
Also Monday:
The city council unanimously improved a program to encourage commercial and industrial projects on vacant properties in east Pasco.
The incentive of a credit to the cost of providing public improvements and facilities required through the development review process would apply to some properties between Highway 12 and A Street and Oregon Avenue and Highway 12, according to the council documents.
The project would need to at least $300,000 in value.
-- Kristi Pihl: 582-1512; kpihl@tricityherald.com
