City plan deadline nearing

Public has until June 7 to comment on latest draft

Area residents have until June 7 to comment on the latest and perhaps final draft of the city's new comprehensive plan, which was presented and discussed this week at a meeting of the Planning Commission that was attended by about 35 people.

The draft is available at alltogetheraltoona.org/library, and comments can be sent to planning@altoonapa.gov.

The plan outlines progress made in downtown development, blight control, housing and other facets since the exit from the state's distressed municipalities program in 2017, but to accelerate progress and reach the city's potential -- even as the population continues to shrink -- Altoona will need to redouble investment and solicit investment from businesses and nonprofits, without undue dependence on federal and state help, according to the plan and Peter Lombardi, director of revitalization planning for czb, the consultant that drew up the plan.

If the city continues on its current path without changes, things may improve a little, but that progress will be spotty and frustrating, according to Lombardi and his colleague Matt Ingalls, director of urban planning and design at czb.

To lay the foundation for reaching its potential, the city will need to take three initial steps, according to the plan.

It should create a special fund for needed improvements to which the city itself, the private sector and nonprofits would contribute, according to the plan.

It should revise the zoning and subdivision and the land development regulations, so they embody high expectations, but are nevertheless business-friendly and flexible, according to the plan.

And it should expand all types of housing intervention -- demolition, rehabilitation and new construction, according to the plan.

In considering improvements, the city should also follow accepted "planning principles," according to czb.

Those comprise having local "skin in the game," insistence on quality development and quality maintenance, acceptance of risk and continued attention to maintenance of existing assets, according to the plan.

Ultimately, however, the city should focus on one central priority: retaining young people and developing a talented workforce, according to the plan.

To make progress on that front will require making improvements on two secondary priorities or "big things" -- the creation of better public spaces and the creation of better neighborhoods, according to the plan.

Creating better public spaces will require further revitalization downtown, making streets safer and nicer, based on good urban design; and improving parks and trails, according to the plan.

Improving neighborhoods will require promoting stability, eliminating blight and expanding affordable housing options, according to the plan.

Public spaces

Many major corridors in the city are not pleasant or attractive, and their bad design sets an unfortunate tone, while sending a negative message about potential investment, according to the plan.

Eleventh Avenue in the downtown and Union Avenue in the Mansion Park areas are exceptions.

Downtown is improving, but there's a long way to go to reach ideal levels for pedestrian activity, low vacancy rates and business vibrancy, according to the plan.

Among additional needs is more market rate housing to complement the existing affordable housing already in the downtown, according to the plan.

Additionally, sidewalks in the city are a longstanding problem, with only 36% in good or satisfactory condition, according to the plan.

And the network of parks and trails is small and significantly underfunded, according to the plan.

Altoona has spent about $1.1 million on parks in the past five years, compared to the median $2.9 million spent on parks for U.S. cities of between 20,000 and 50,000 residents, according to the plan.

The per capita spending in Altoona's 2022 operating budget for parks is $16, compared to $95 per resident among those cities.

The effort should include partnerships with other jurisdictions to expand the regional trail network and to make connections between trails, according to officials and the plan.

As a quality-of-life amenity, trails contribute to both municipal and regional economic vibrancy, the plan states.

Neighborhoods

Promoting neighborhood stability needs to involve attention to whole blocks, to get the most benefit from the limited resources available.

That is better than "one-off," scattershot efforts, because perceptions of the relative health of neighborhoods tend to be governed by how individual blocks appear, according to one official.

The work involved could be housing rehabilitations, sidewalk renovations, paving of the streets and planting of street trees, Lombardi said.

Market conditions will determine the cost of making improvements, according to the plan.

"Stronger blocks will require fewer resources to fully engage private actors," the plan states.

"Below average and well-below average blocks will require considerably more resources and patience, and should (also) involve multiple blocks at once."

The blight fight needs to accelerate, according to the plan.

For years, the city has demolished about 30 homes annually, but because population shrinkage has outpaced blighted home removal, blight has actually crept up, according to the plan, which states the city will need to increase the pace of to 40 or 50 homes a year.

It's best to prioritize blight removals where it will have the biggest impacts -- where it's especially visible or where it's next to important assets, according to the plan.

Similarly, it should increase residential unit rehabilitations from the current average of 15 per year to 35, using city, federal and other resources, and it should increase construction of new residential units from the current average of 10 per year to 20, with the help of federal and state funds and creating a mix of affordable and market-rate units, according to the plan.

Thirty-eight percent of the blocks in the city are currently "healthy," but 27% are "unsettled," capable of tipping either way; while 35% are "unhealthy" -- where homes with deferred maintenance predominate, according to the plan.

One of the key effects of blight is a significant housing-value penalty, according to the plan.

Statistics from 2018 show that sale prices for homes on blocks with multiple distressed properties in Altoona averaged $61,000 -- barely more than half of the average $116,000 received for homes on blocks with one or fewer blighted properties, according to the plan.

Paying for it

The plan envisions that the city should try to raise $50 million over 15 years for the All Together Altoona fund.

The city should add 1 mill to the property tax levy, which, at the rate of $100 per year per house assessed at $100,000, would generate $2 million annually for capital projects -- thus providing 60% of the targeted $50 million, according to the plan.

The city should also try to raise $1.3 million per year from corporate, philanthropic and public sector sources to pay for designated programs and activities, thus covering the other 40% of the targeted $50 million, according to the plan.

City government is currently a "bare bones operation," which limits its capacity to be proactive about key issues, according to the plan.

Among the state's 15 largest cities, Altoona is second to last in number of full-time employees per 1,000 residents, in per capita payroll costs and per capita property tax levy, according to the plan.

Some might respond that those statistics merely align with the city's financial capacity, Lombardi said.

But that's not true -- Altoona's poverty rate is better than all but three of those 15 largest Pennsylvania cities, while its median household income is in the mid-range on that list, Lombardi said.

So inability to pay shouldn't be an excuse, he said.

Comments

The revisions to the zoning ordinance and to the subdivision and land development ordinances (SALDO) need to trend in favor of development, according to builder Brian Durbin, who spoke after the czb presentation.

When it was adopted 20 years ago, city officials treated the current code as a guide, but since then, "it's become a rule of law" -- whose implementation is "scaring people away," while saddling businesses with requirements that make it hard especially for startup enterprises, according to Durbin.

The need to show "hardship" in order to obtain a variance is also a problem, according to one official.

Is the city considering getting rid of its requirement for developers to hire city-licensed plumbers and electricians on Altoona projects, asked developer Jeff Long, builder of the Graystone market-rate senior housing facilities.

The state's Uniform Construction Code requires the work that those tradesmen do to be inspected anyway, Long said, implying that the licensing requirement is thus redundant.

The licensing requirement adds 20% to the cost of getting such work done, Long said.

Czb will look at that issue in its analysis of the codes -- additional work that the city recently hired the consultant to do, Lombardi said, in answer to Long.

Others have also questioned the licensing requirement, Lombardi added.

The proposed comp plan is on "the right track," but its redevelopment proposals should be grander -- more like those that transformed parts of Altoona through the Redevelopment Authority 40 or more years ago, said Hap Durbin, Brian's father, citing the project that led to creation of Station Mall -- now Station Medical Center.

The city needs to think bigger than one block at a time in its effort to get rid of the "cancer" of blight, Hap Durbin said.

Mirror Staff Writer

William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.