The city Redevelopment Authority has proposed an Urban Redevelopment Area (URA) for the central part of the city, plus the Knickerbocker neighborhood.

“It’s the heart of Altoona,” Community Development Director Eric Luchansky said, describing the proposal at a recent meeting.

In redevelopment areas, redevelopment authorities can initiate Tax Increment Financing, which enables them to use projected increases in property tax revenues to fund current infrastructure improvements; more easily conduct site preparation and blight remediation; more easily obtain blighted property for redevelopment; can customize planning and zoning rules to allow for appropriate redevelopment; can sell or lease ground directly to private developers to meet URA goals; and can more easily enter into public-private development partnerships, according to online sources.

The proposed URA comprises the downtown of Juniata, a much wider section centered on the main downtown, including land on both sides of the mainline tracks and ending at 28th Street; and the Knickerbocker rowhomes, according to a map provided by Luchansky — whose idea it was to create the URA.

The proposal goes to the Planning Commission, then potentially to City Council.

“You today are asking the Planning Commission to create this URA,” authority solicitor Patrick Fanelli told the board.

Council would need to approve it, after which the authority could use the tools it provides, according to Fanelli.

Currently, the authority is working “house by house” with its redevelopment efforts, Fanelli said.

The URA would enable it to work neighborhood-by-neighborhood, he said.

The URA’s goals would need to be consistent with those of the city’s comprehensive plan, according to Fanelli.

Any proposal within the URA that involves rehousing of residents would need to have a detailed plan for those residents and the rehousing itself would need to be in keeping with an overall redevelopment plan, officials said.

The URA would create a “framework” for redevelopment, but there are no specifics at this point, said authority Chairman Richard Fiore.

Specific redevelopment proposals within the URA would be subject to Planning Commission and council review and approval, according to Fanelli.

Ultimately, the goal is to boost the vitality of neighborhoods, Luchansky said.

The city has had URAs before.

They have included an area along Ninth Avenue, an area centered on Lexington Avenue, an area centered around the eastern foot of the Seventh Avenue Bridge and the Martin supermarket in Logantown.

Luchansky drew the borders of the URA so it would encompass the area “where the most amount of commerce takes place,” he said.

Looking for builders

The authority has advertised for bids for construction of three single-family homes at the former Garfield Elementary School property, on the 2000 block of 14th Avenue in Fifth Ward.

Successful bidders will use plans provided by the authority and will perform site development work.

The authority will retain ownership after construction, then sell the homes to income-qualified individuals to obtain money for reinvestment in an ongoing program of housing development, according to the bid documents.

Each home would be about 1,800 square feet.

Bidders need to provide proof of their capability to do the work.

Submissions are due by noon on May 5.

Eminent domain

The authority has authorized Fanelli to file for the eminent domain taking of a second property that is blighted, but not too blighted to renovate — and whose owner has been unresponsive.

It is on the 500 block of East Atlantic Avenue.

The action will trigger further attempts to contact the owner, but if there continues to be no response, the authority should own the property by mid-May or shortly thereafter, according to Fanelli.

The authority recently took a property on the 1800 block of Fifth Avenue under similar circumstances.

It will hire EADS to create a design for dealing with improvements for the sidewalk in front, due to “tricky” complications that include the presence of a sewer inlet.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.