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RESOLUTION NUMBER 6533 A RESOLUTION DECLARING A BLIGHTED AREA IN NEED OF REDEVELOPMENT AND REHABILITATION EXISTS WITHIN THE CITY OF MISSOULA, MONTANA, AND TO DETERMINE THE BOUNDARIES OF THAT AREA. WHEREAS, the State of Montana has provided for the redevelopment and rehabilitation of those portions of its cities which constitute a menace to public health and safety, constitute an economic and social liability and substantially impair the sound growth of a municipality; and WHEREAS, the procedure provided in Title 7, Chapter 15, Part 42 and 43 of the Montana Codes Annotated authorizes municipalities to exercise statutory urban renewal powers for redevelopment and rehabilitation through urban renewal plans and projects; and, WHEREAS, 7-15-4202 M.C.A. states that such authorization may be exercised, after the municipality has made a finding that a blighted area exists and that the continued existence of blighted areas substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of the city or its environs; retards the provision of housing accommodations; constitutes an economic or social liability; aggravates traffic problems and substantially impairs or arrests the elimination of traffic hazards and the improvement of traffic facilities; and/or is detrimental or constitutes a serious and growing menace to the public health, safety, welfare, and morals in its present condition and use; and, WHEREAS, Section 7-15-4221 M.C.A. states that an urban renewal plan may be modified at any time by the local governing body; and, WHEREAS, Urban Renewal District II was created by City of Missoula Ordinance 2803 on December 16, 1991; and, WHEREAS, on March 11, 2002, the Missoula City Council, responding to a property owner petition to be included in Urban Renewal District II, directed the Missoula Redevelopment Agency to conduct a study to determine the existence of blight adjacent to and west of Urban Renewal District II on the west side of the City in an area south of the Clark Fork River; and, WHEREAS, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency has conducted such a study of an area generally described as being bounded on the east by the original Urban Renewal District II boundary, on the north by River Road, on the west by Curtis Street, on the south by South Third Street West and has found that within the area studied at least one area currently determined as blighted (as defined in Section 7-15-4206 M.C.A.) generally described as: Lots 4 through 14 of Block 13, Riverside Addition, and the Montana Street right-of-way north of Lots 9 and 10, Block 13, Riverside Addition, and depicted in Exhibit A hereto; in the following particulars: 1. Unsanitary or unsafe conditions. The area identified as blighted is not well served by the public water system. Businesses and residents in the area must rely on private wells for potable water. Further, the private well systems are not deemed adequate by Fire and Building Codes adopted by the City of Missoula for commercial fire suppression sprinkler systems. Properties in the area are not connected to the municipal sanitary sewer system in contravention to adopted City policy to place as many residences and businesses as possible within the City’s Sanitary Sewer Service Area on sanitary sewer service in order to protect the Missoula Aquifer. 2. Defective or inadequate street layout. There are no sidewalks, curbs, or gutters in the area aggravating traffic and storm drainage problems in the area by placing pedestrians and other modes of non-motorized transportation in direct and dangerous conflict with motor vehicles jointly utilizing existing roadways.. Vacated alleys and streets in the area create difficult access for utilities, commercial deliveries, etc. creating traffic hazards and impairing improvement of such hazards. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Missoula City Council finds that blight exists within the City of Missoula in the area described as: Lots 4 through 14 of Block 13, Riverside Addition, and the Montana Street right-of-way north of Lots 9 and 10, Block 13, Riverside Addition, and depicted in Exhibit A attached hereto under the definition contained in Section 7-15-4206 M.C.A. and that rehabilitation, redevelopment, and improvement of such area (pursuant to the Montana Urban Renewal Law) is necessary and desirable in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the City of Missoula and that this rehabilitation, redevelopment, and improvement be made with a commitment to neighborhood improvement and a neighborhood role in decision-making. ---PAGE BREAK--- PASSED AND ADOPTED this 22nd day of July, 2002. ATTEST: APPROVED: Martha L. Rehbein Mike Kadas Martha L. Rehbein Mike Kadas City Clerk Mayor (SEAL) ---PAGE BREAK---