Tim Ryan tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
The Shawano Redevelopment Authority has identified 32 properties at the top of its to-do list for addressing blighted parcels in the city, including 11 owned by the Samanta Roy Institute of Science and Technology or its subsidiaries.
Also on the list is a residential property in the 200 block of South Main Street owned by Mayor Jeanne Cronce and her husband. The city had planned to purchase that property for future development, along with several others along the 200 block, but the purchase was pulled from the Common Council agenda at its last meeting.
Assistant City Administrator Eddie Sheppard said the purchase was dropped because of guidelines from the League of Wisconsin Municipalities that advised against such purchases.
“There shouldn’t be land transactions with city officials,” Sheppard said.
The Cronces had made the offer to purchase in November, prior to Jeanne Cronce’s run for mayor, but wasn’t considered until other adjacent properties also became available.
The Cronce property at 232 S. Main St. is one of five in that block targeted for renovation and blight removal, according to the RDA action plan.
The city has already approved the purchase of a retail property at 224 and 226 S. Main St. and a residential property at 228 S. Main St. for a total of $62,000.
The RDA also lists the former Crescent Pitcher Show at 220 S. Main St. as a priority.
SIST properties on the RDA priority list include vacant properties at 201 N. Main St. and 202 N. Washington St.; the former Subway at 951 E. Green Bay St.; the former Taco John’s restaurant at 1214 E. Green Bay St.; a property at 143 S. Main St. being rented to Hunan’s Chinese Restaurant; vacant properties at 303 and 311 E. Green Bay St. and 214 and 216 S. Main St.; as well as a vacant lot at Fourth and Main streets.
Also on the list is the former Ponderosa Steak House at 1247 E. Green Bay St., which was recently purchased at a sheriff’s sale by VDG LLC.
There are 391 properties in the proposed RDA district, which still needs to go to the Common Council for approval. Just over half of them are considered blighted or in need of redevelopment.
Most of the 32 properties on the RDA priority list are centered in the downtown area, primarily along Main Street.
Sheppard said the priority list is not in any particular order of importance.
City officials say they want to work cooperatively with property owners to address blight issues by providing resources to assist them.
A public hearing on the proposed RDA district and action plan will be held on July 14.