Windsor considers blight fund question

By JEFF EPSTEIN
[email protected]
WINDSOR, Vt. — As the town considers funding priorities for fiscal year 2019-20, the budget committee is thinking about economic development opportunities. For the past couple of years, $90,000 has been set aside for economic development, and at a recent meeting between the select board and the budget committee, Town Manager Tom Marsh noted that revitalizing downtown and fixing blighted property is one of the wishes he often hears about from citizens.

Windsor does not suffer from the urban blight problems of large cities. Yet, some of the town’s stores and buildings downtown are clearly empty, and some persons consider some private homes to be unsightly. Unfortunately, Marsh said, “[nearly] everything that is blighted is private property.”

And thus does Windsor come upon the same community conundrum as big cities: the interface between private property owners and local governments that have a desire to maintain the economic environment of the community.

The main weapon that Windsor and other municipalities have is enforcement of local laws, which is clearly a province of government. Regulatory enforcement, however, is a blunt tool that is not easy to make work.

“There are limits to what the town has the right to do as government,” said Marsh. “So we have blight regulations and zoning regulations and health regulations. And they are very costly to take to the final conclusion, and likely you will lose in the courts … but along the way both sides spend a lot of money to argue.”

Still, the town has been stepping up enforcement. Marsh says that in doing so he has found it helpful to dig a little, and find out what is going on with the property. In many cases, he finds that the property owner is willing to comply and clean up, but does not have the money to do so. At this point, the town can simply go to court, but the best practical help is to actually participate and get directly involved.

“It’s cheaper for us to go hire somebody and go clean it up for them than it is to fight it in court. So we say, if you get this done here, we will hire a contractor to come and take it away for you.”

Experiments like this have led Marsh and select board members to ruminate about the next step up: a formal revitalization fund, similar to the $100,000 fund Springfield approved in 2017. Something like that would be a dedicated fund, probably a separate warrant item at town meeting.

“Would the town support a million-dollar bond question that would be used for blight remediation?” Marsh wondered. If the town supported the concept, he said, such a fund could provide a suite of tools it could use. For example, if a property owner came forward with a full plan to restore or rehabilitate a building, the town might be willing to contribute a piece of the project, such as an environmental upgrade. Or, if necessary, the town could actually purchase a building and demolish it, if it couldn’t rehabilitate it and sell it to a developer itself.

“You can’t make a private property owner make his property prettier, or make them paint it. But if it’s that big a deal, then the community can kind of put their wallet on the table,” Marsh said. 

Marsh’s point is that any budget reflect the priorities of the town. If enough people are concerned enough about downtown to do something about it, the economic tools need to be in place. A survey open until Dec. 21 asks town residents for their budget input. A strong sentiment for blight control could prompt the select board to pose the question at the next town meeting. Even if it doesn’t, the conversation could continue a few more years.

In the case of Springfield, the select board and voters struggled for years over a blight ordinance and revitalization fund, and when voters approved the fund, it was in the context of a master plan now underway. 

“A lot of what is happening … in Springfield are community-minded people that are really doing the heavy lifting … success breeds success,” Marsh said.

Windsor has its own multi-year plan, but Marsh notes it has been slightly hampered in recent years by contingencies such as Tropical Storm Irene and necessary projects such as fixing the Ascutney Mills Dam. The 2019-20 budget, he suggested, could be an opportunity to do something more.