It was in June of 2020, the early stages of our city’s Forward SGF Comprehensive Plan, that I received the first draft of the Housing & Neighborhoods vision statement and goals. There it was – the 20-year plan. (They had started on the plan in June of 2019). Our City leadership was expressing interest and concern for the conditions of our neighborhoods and housing stock. Of course, the conditions of our declining neighborhoods have been discussed for decades. Would this new plan start the ball rolling? I am optimistic!
In October of 2020, CPO (Community Partnership of the Ozarks) brought together a group of stakeholders creating the Nuisance Property Subcommittee. We started looking at how to address growing issues and concerns with housing conditions for our neighbors. From this subcommittee, the Nuisance Properties Work Group was formed in January of 2022 where we honed in on the problems and developed some solutions.
In May of this year, the Nuisance Property Work Group, led by Rusty Worley, presented our report to the City Council. Included in the report were recommendations for investments by the City of nearly $665,000 initially and an additional $125,000 annual increase in City expenses. Also we recommended replacing the rental registration program with an actual inspection program, changes in city code, as well as a new City staff position dedicated to residential nuisance properties and dedicating resources to deal with root causes such as poverty and disinvestment. It was found in some of the research that from 2015-2020 there were 17,000 code complaints with 71% of those from rental properties.
This past August, City Council adopted a resolution that focuses on addressing nuisance properties. We can truly celebrate the progress here! A short summary of the requirements of this resolution includes:
- Requiring the city manager to provide City Council with quarterly reports on nuisance properties.
- Asking the council’s Finance and Administration Committee to assess escalating fees and fines for chronic nuisance properties and report recommendations based on the findings.
- Asking the council’s Community Involvement Committee consider the feasibility of all recommendations from the Nuisance Property Work Group’s Final Report and present their findings to council. The resolution also aligns with the city’s Forward SGF Plan’s initiative to support and invest in revitalizing neighborhoods.
You’ve heard it before: timing is everything – even when it’s not on our desired schedule. Think about when we look at a clock – we don’t see all the moving parts behind the face that changes and advances where the hands are pointing and what keeps the clock hands moving. Some clocks are incredibly complicated and have so many moving parts. As neighbors, helping neighbors and speaking up and getting involved, we are the moving parts and our efforts will be noticed. Progress is moving forward, second by second. And that feels really slow but it is one house at a time, one empty lot at a time, one boarded up building at a time. Don’t give up. We can overcome discouragement by working together.
Speaking of moving parts, all the while the Nuisance Property Work Group was working away creating recommendations for City Council, City staff have been working behind the scenes with a lot of moving parts. Here are three things you can look into.
- The comprehensive plan has wrapped up. Look at the final plan for Housing & Neighborhoods at https://forwardsgf.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ch7HousingNeighborhoods.pdf.
- A Housing Study has begun and will have final reports in November. You can dive into these details at springfieldmo.gov/housingstudy What we have learned from the consultants with APD Urban Planning and Management so far is that nearly two-thirds of all residential properties in Springfield are more than 50 years old. More than 2,000 residential properties — about 5% of all housing — were found to be in a poor to dilapidated condition.
- The process of updating land development and municipal codes per the Forward SGF Comprehensive Plan has begun. The City created place teams for citizens to participate in. Consultants with Multistudio have been hired to review and recommend updates with an expected report the end of 2024. This is a huge and much-needed update. Visit forwardsgf.com to learn more.
Learn what’s going on. Engage with your neighborhood association. I just know there are some brilliant ideas sitting on a front porch somewhere waiting to share. Keep the light on!