Neighborhoods

Tuesday, June 11, 2024. 

On Monday, June 10, 2024, the Frances Schermer Charitable Trust awarded YNDC a $5,000 grant for emergency repair. The funds will be used for the emergency home repair program to assist residents of owner-occupied, single family homes with emergency repairs such as furnace and plumbing repairs at NO COST. Thank you to the Frances Schermer Charitable Trust!
 

Residential housing on the city’s South Side is getting powered by Santon Electric. Electricians have been going between duplexes on Glenwood Avenue and single-family homes being built on Bernard Street.

The projects are an effort between the city and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here. 

City council is expected to consider legislation Thursday for moratoriums on permits and licenses for new recreational marijuana businesses, dollar stores, car dealerships and auto repair shops until May 1, 2026.

Council’s zoning committee has met several times with administration officials since March to discuss one-year moratoriums on dollar stores, car dealerships and auto repair shops. During those discussions, the proposed moratoriums grew to nearly two years and recreational marijuana was added. The recreational marijuana legislation states a moratorium is “necessary while the city council researches whether adult use dispensaries within the city should be allowed, limited or entirely prohibited.” It won’t stop Leaf Relief at 4323 Market St., the city’s only medical marijuana facility, from selling recreational marijuana. The business has applied for a recreational permit.

Council had planned to vote May 5 on the four moratoriums, but because the zoning committee couldn’t get a quorum at its May 21 meeting, the legislation was delayed. The committee met June 6 to finalize the details of the moratoriums. The language in a statewide issue approved by voters in November to legalize adult recreational marijuana includes a provision allowing communities to prohibit the location of businesses that sell it. If that were to happen, the owner or operator of a dispensary can attempt to place the matter on a ballot for voters in that community to decide through a petition initiative.

The moratorium language on dollar stores, referred to as small box discount stores, states that although they “may fulfill a need in places that lack basic retail services, growing evidence demonstrates that small box discount stores not only are a byproduct of economic distress, but also are a cause of it.” In Youngstown, there are 23 dollar stores: Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar.

ARP ALLOCATIONS

Council also will consider spending $346,000 in American Rescue Plan funds on three efforts at Thursday’s meeting.The most expensive request is $250,000 from Councilman Jimmy Hughes, D-2nd Ward, for the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. to manage improvements on properties adjacent to primary and secondary thoroughfares in the ward, which includes most of the East Side.

To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here. 

Wednesday, June 19, 2024. 

YNDC is seeking proposals for the design-build construction of six new single-family homes on Mineral Springs Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio. Interested parties can download specifications and proposal submission instructions below.

Monday, June 24, 2024. 

In April 2024, YNDC and project partners broke ground on the construction of three single family homes that will be located at 1040, 1032, and 1024 Bernard Street. The energy efficient homes will be approximately 1,500 square feet with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, first floor laundry, open concept kitchen and living area, and a two car attached garage. The units will be listed for sale in late summer 2024 and will have a 100 percent fifteen year property tax abatement. YNDC is planning to build three additional homes on the street in a second phase. The broken and failing sidewalks on the street will be replaced along with the street later this summer.

The project is made possible with the funding support of First Ward Councilman Julius Oliver's American Rescue Plan funding . PNC Bank is providing the construction financing for the project. The vacant lots were provided by the Mahoning County Land Bank. The builder for the project is Joe Koch Construction. The project also received support from The Raymond John Wean Foundation, City of Youngstown, and the Glenwood Neighbors Business Association. Many thanks to all involved in making this project possible!

Cheryl was born in Youngstown and has lived on the East side for most of her life. She is a first time home-buyer and a proud success story of YNDC’s HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Program. Her favorite thing about her new home is, “It is mine!” she said. “I don’t have to worry about waiting for anything to be done. It’s my baby now, I have to take care of it.” She chose this home because it’s convenient to get everywhere she needs to go. “I knew the people who lived in this home before me,” she said. “It is a blessing for me to buy a home I knew had been cared for.”

YNDC’s housing counselor Alex helped Cheryl identify and resolve barriers to obtaining quality affordable housing. “I will make it my mission to let everyone know what a wonderful program this is,” she said. “It was a pleasure working with everyone at YNDC, I can’t thank them enough.”

Please call YNDC at 330.480.0423 for more information or to enroll in the program.
 

From the passenger seat of a moving car, Ian Beniston was pointing out the small victories in his war on blight. “That’s a duplex we own. We renovated and sold that brick house. That’s a triplex we own. That’s a house we got for free from a guy in California,” said Beniston, the executive director of the Youngstown Community Development Corporation. “This is the last bad vacant one on the street. It was built in the 1890s. I think we’re close to finally getting it through tax foreclosure, though.” 

To read the full story from mLive.com, click here. 

Thursday, June 27, 2024. 

On Thursday, June 27, YNDC Executive Director, Ian Beniston, was sworn in as a board member of the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority (YMHA). His term begins immediately and expires on November 28, 2027. 

Buying a home can be intimidating and it’s not always the easiest process. The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) is making it a lot simpler through its housing counseling program. 

To read the full story from WKBN, click here. 

A man who is passionate about revitalizing the city has been appointed to the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority (YMHA) Board of Commissioners.

Ian Beniston, executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC), will fill the seat left by Brigid Kennedy, who resigned from the board in April.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here.