Lewiston URA may switch focus to blight

Jun. 12—Downtown Lewiston property owners may be getting some help with making their beat-up buildings go bye-bye.

City officials recently received the first half of a $5.7 million grant from the American Rescue Act, with the balance coming in one year. City Manager Alan Nygaard has proposed spending much of the money on replacement of the ancient water lines under Main Street. The lines are seen as a major impediment to redevelopment because their restricted fire flows trigger building codes that require expensive sprinklers and firewalls.

City councilors have seemed open to the proposition, leading the Lewiston Urban Renewal Agency to consider a shift in focus to other infrastructure projects that could help spur redevelopment downtown.

The agency board voted unanimously this week to recall and reconfigure its plan for a new downtown revenue allocation area that currently lists those water lines as the top priority. The Lewiston Planning and Zoning Commission had already approved the plan and sent it to the City Council for consideration, but Community Development Director Laura Von Tersch, who advises the URA, suggested that the federal funding gives the agency a chance to take a step back and reassess priorities.

And one of those top priorities could be helping property owners remove some of the derelict buildings along Beachey and Capital streets. Removal of blight is one of the permitted activities for Idaho urban renewal agencies, and Von Tersch said its omission from the proposed plan was a shortcoming.

Cleaning up the neighborhood, coupled with widening and improving Beachey Street, would help make the area more attractive to developers, she said. For example, the former Twin City Foods property at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers is under contract after being on the market for more than a decade. Knowing that the city is willing to invest in the area might help the undisclosed prospective buyers close the deal. Von Tersch added that infrastructure projects in that specific area could also aid in the continued redevelopment of the largely vacant Lewis-Clark Hotel.

Von Tersch also identified the downtown block on the north side of Capital Street between Second and Third streets occupied by Lewis Clark Recyclers as a target for blight removal.

A memo to the URA board noted that the block is for sale, and an offer has been accepted. Owner Anita Armstrong said she wasn't yet able to comment on who the buyer is.

The former Emperor of India King Thai restaurant on Main Street that was destroyed in a 2019 fire is another blighted downtown site that could be cleaned up with agency funding. The lot has become a persistent eyesore, with no indication that cleanup is coming any time soon.

The rehabilitation of the concrete stairs that lead from the south end of New Sixth Street up Normal Hill to Pioneer Park can also climb up the priority list now that it looks like the Main Street water project is funded. The route is currently rundown and overgrown, but it could be turned into an attractive route for pedestrians to travel between downtown businesses and the busy campuses of Lewis-Clark State College and St. Joseph Regional Medical Center.

Von Tersch said a feasibility report completed by JUB Engineers estimated the cost of the rehab at around $1 million. But two water lines, one at the top of the staircase and one at the bottom, could help jumpstart the project with some of the ARPA funding.

"They don't connect, which might be instrumental in driving more water into the downtown district," she said of a possible tie between the lines. "So it can turn into a water line project. And it also goes over a sewer line, so those funds might be able to assist in the reconstruction of the staircase."

Since they originated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ARPA funding can be used for a wide variety of infrastructure projects that have a public health aspect, like water and sewer improvements. And while that makes the water and sewer lines near the staircase potentially eligible, repairing the stairs themselves would likely fall outside of the funding's purview.

The revised plan for the new revenue allocation area will need to be resubmitted to the Lewiston Planning and Zoning Commission for a public hearing and vote once it is complete. If approved, it will then go to City Council. Von Tersch said getting the area created this year is crucial because the URA will be able to begin collecting property tax revenue on the value of all the new construction in the area retroactive to Jan. 1, and the city is on a record building pace for this year.

And even though that means the area would get a good start on accumulating funds for potential projects, it takes time to build up enough revenue to fund a project. Von Tersch said that makes it critical for the agency to find partners that can fund the projects up front, with the agency providing reimbursement as it can.

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or at (208) 310-1901, ext. 2266.