Page 73 - Valparaiso, IN U.S. 30 Corridor Plan

Adopted July 25, 2011
Above and left: Examples of corner treatment buildings. Special overlay
design standards should be adopted for major the principal “gateway”
intersections at Sturdy Road, SR-2/Washington Street, and Hayes Leonard
Road to address the need for landmark-quality buildings on key corner sites.
As a general rule, the city should enter discussions with the County to officially gloss over structural problems or to extend the life of non-conforming buildings
exercise its two-mile ETJ authority along U.S. 30 and SR-2. If in the future the and uses. Grants should be used to leverage (not replace) property-owner
City opts to provide services to areas outside the current city limits, it should either investments and should require a 100% match by the recipient. Potential funding
require annexation or automatically invoke its extraterritorial planning authority as sources among others can include: CDBG grants, and/or TIF proceeds.
allowed by law.
Special Redevelopment Loan Fund
As a further condition of extending services, the City should execute a pre-
annexation agreement with affected property owners stipulating adherence to the One of the biggest obstacles to redevelopment projects are the added
City’s ETJ-area plan. The agreement should include the condition that property- predevelopment costs such as land assembly, environmental assessment, and
owners agree not to contest the plan for a pre-set number of years following demolition. One way the City can incent redevelopment along US-30 is to help
annexation and/or the extension of city services. offset these costs by offering low interest loans or grants to help cover these larger
up-front expenses. Loans can also be used for actual development provided that
Subdivision Regulations it is used as gap financing to cover the difference between conventional bank and
total project costs (less developer equity). Eligibility requirements should include
Although not considered to be in need of a major overhaul, the City should review capital investment and equity minimums and the highest level of design.
its current regulations to ensure quality master-planned development of the type
envisioned for the Hayes Leonard/US-30 intersection (and possibly farther west Potential fund capitalization sources include: CDBG, general funds, TIF, pooled
at 100-West). private bank funds, utility company grants, private foundation grants, and the US
Department of Agriculture Intermediary Relending Program. The fund may also
2. Incentives be structured as a loan guarantee program to maximize conventional lending.
Although revolving loan programs can be a potent redevelopment tool, they do
The complexities of redevelopment in “soft market” situations (i.e. weak market require a commitment of staff and/or volunteer time to administer.
demand, fragmented property ownership, difficult site conditions) usually require
special inducements to attract quality investment. These can range from small 3. Direct Public Investment
grants or loans for superficial property improvements, to tax abatements, low
interest loans, or TIF-financed public improvements for larger redevelopment This category refers to public outlays on all manner of public capital improvements
projects. Incentives are typically used in conjunction with new investments in that are designed to enhance the corridor’s functionality, appearance, and capacity
public infrastructure as a way to leverage those investments for maximum impact. for (re)development. They include improvements/ extensions to intersecting
roads; stormwater management improvements; streambank restoration; sewer,
Tax Abatements water, telecommunications upgrades, the burying of overhead utility lines; and
streetscape and public art.
Perhaps the easiest incentive to institute in terms of both administration and up-
front costs are tax abatements (or alternatively, tax “phase ins”). The City has These are the kinds of investments that generally require a substantial outlay
already used this tool along US-30 and continuing the practice is recommended of public funds without the automatic guarantee of immediate payback
for larger-scale, high quality projects. One way for the City to give the US-30 through increased taxes. They are typically incorporated into the City’s overall
corridor an extra boost is to extend the abatement period for projects along the capital improvement plan (CIP), and when possible, coordinated with private
highway for a longer period than what is available elsewhere in the City, and to development efforts. They are usually paid for with a combination of general funds,
extend it to include personal property tax. tax increment finance (TIF), Federal or State grants, or special assessments to
directly-benefiting properties.
It is recommended however that the City use this tool judiciously so that only
major redevelopment projects that substantially advance the plan, and that have One particular challenge with respect to capital projects directly within the State
a potentially transformative effect on the corridor, are included. Besides general –controlled US-30 right-of-way, is that they must comply with state and Federal
plan compatibility, eligibility can be determined by instituting a minimum capital requirements with respect to clear zones and the preservation of sight-lines. And
investment requirement. while the state’s department of transportation (INDOT) nominally controls the
right-of-way, they are unlikely to pay for anything beyond basic maintenance to
Façade & Sign Grants/Loans the current, basic infrastructure. Therefore, any upgrades will not only have to
pass inspection by INDOT, they will have to be paid for and maintained through
The City currently operates Downtown area façade grant programs and it is an outside source. Currently, INDOT has no immediate plans to reconstruct,
recommended that the program be extended to properties along US-30. Eligibility widen, or otherwise “improve” the segment of US-30 that traverses Valparaiso.
should be limited to code compliant properties only, and on projects that bring
properties into compliance with design guidelines or to help defray the costs The plan identifies several public improvements intended to improve the
of any extra-ordinary design requirements (imposed, for instance, through a appearance and overall investment climate along the US-30 corridor. Chief among
development agreement to which the City is party).They shouldn’t be used to these are the public streetscape installations proposed for discrete sections of
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