DevelopOhio

Tiffin City Council voted 6-1 to approve a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) for 149 acres in the Third Ward, in order to allow the use of tax abatements to “stimulate construction and improvement projects,” the Advertiser-Tribune reports. The first proposed project under the CRA could displace some residents in the area; Seneca Industrial and Economic Development Corp. (SIEDC) and NRP Group LLC have proposed to build “50 two-, three- and four-bedroom townhomes on 7.5 acres” where mobile homes are currently located, according to the article. Councilman Jim Roberts cast the only vote against the CRA out of concern for those residents. SIEDC Development Specialist Bryce Riggs said one of Tiffin’s community development goals “is to increase affordable housing. It’s a priority for the community.” Riggs also said SIEDC understands the current residents will be inconvenienced and that the company will provide the property owner with information on available lots in a trailer park, and that SIEDC is “looking into different organizations in the community that can assist these folks.” Councilman Rich Focht said the “council was focusing on a project that would cover only 7.5” of the 149 acres of the CRA, saying, “[t]his is an economic development tool. We’re going to create the opportunity for other economic development to take place within that zone.”