St. Cloud EDA Recommends East Side Clearance Program for Teardown of Blighted Buildings

(KNSI) — The St. Cloud Economic Development Authority recommended the City Council implement an East Side Clearance Program at Tuesday’s meeting.

It would establish a procedure for city staff in the planning department to facilitate the teardown of blighted buildings. The money would come from a federal program that is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development called Community Development Block Grants. Community Development Director Matt Glaesman tells KNSI the approved property owners must match the grant the city offers. He expects they will advertise the program and then select from a pool of applicants.

“We can sift through that kind of information about existing conditions of multiple sites that are the opportunities on the east side. We didn’t really want to be accepting individual applications through the CDBG process.”

The St. Cloud Planning Commission recommended a budget of $150,000. City staff and the EDA want $200,000. Glaesman explains the council will need to decide the scope and length of the program if it is to be implemented at all.

“If we do come to some terms that there’ll be an ongoing pattern of this program — two years, three years, four years, whatever that might be, then I could see a lesser allocation that would then have that [same] impact over time.”

The program would apply to both homes and commercial buildings. The goal is to spur redevelopment in line with the East End Vision – Small Area Plan, first written in 2019.

Council will debate the program at its March 27th meeting.

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