Brian Keith, president of the Southern Gateway Community Association, said during the meeting he has been surveying the community to identify top concerns and areas for improvement in the south side for about two years.
“I figured if we can contact some of the people that make decisions in the city, and we can start having some conversations and building around those conversations to work collectively together with different organizations ... then we can make a better south side,” Keith said.
Property conditions
Neighbors spoke about property owners — both commercial and residential — failing to maintain their grounds and buildings, with Keith citing some chain restaurants on South Limestone Street.
Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck said the city requires all property owners to keep their grass below 10 inches high and said other exterior maintenance must be followed. He said some businesses on South Limestone have been an issue for the city, noting they landscape and make the exterior look nice until they’ve been open for some time.
“Working with those businesses so that not only the short-term investment but also the long-term investment of those properties and maintaining them,” Heck said.
A Chipotle location will open on South Limestone Street on Tuesday, providing a closer option than the location on Bechtle Avenue for southside residents and improving the corner lot location.
Blight problems
Heck said the city is working on improving road conditions in the south side too, including a planned project that will repave areas from Leffel Lane to Singer Street. He said they also plan to rework South Fountain Avenue, but will have to replace lead-lined pipes before starting.
Keith said areas in the south side with abandoned and run-down houses include South Limestone, Center Street, South Wittenberg Avenue and South Yellow Springs Street. He asked Heck what is the city’s responsibility in ensuring land owners maintain their properties.
The city is working on several programs to remove blight, which “creates instability” in these neighborhoods, Heck said. He said the city plans to invest in its legacy neighborhoods, many of which are on the south side.
“We cannot expect to grow as a community and just build out on the periphery,” Heck said. “We have to invest in our existing neighborhoods as well.”
He said run-down properties cannot just be demolished and should instead be put into productive use.
Heck said the city is also addressing property owners who aren’t paying their property taxes, taking valuable money away from the schools.
Assistant Mayor Rob Rue said the root of many of these issues is the apathy of some property owners.
“There’s not a code or a law that we can do to get people to care more, and that’s really the problem when you see a lot of the grass and the unkept areas,” Rue said.
Business efforts
Some residents expressed concerns about the lack of grocery stores on the south side and said they believe Groceryland, which is not a large corporation, is more expensive than Kroger and other larger stores. The Kroger on South Limestone Street closed its doors in 2020, leaving the south side a food desert for almost two years until Groceryland opened there.
Heck said the city is also working on funding more businesses through the Minority Business Enterprise Program from the state. The program helps small business owners of color obtain state government contracts for goods and services.
The city is working to remove all the barriers it can for minority-owned businesses to thrive, Heck said.
Some residents questioned the spending of American Rescue Plan Act dollars, with the building of four new fire stations expected to cost at least $20 million.
“We had not built a new fire station since 1981, and we couldn’t fit modern-day apparatus in them,” Heck said. “They were not set up for the diversified workforce that we’re seeing.”
Activities for children, career development
The Springfield City School District is working to enhance after-school and summer activities for children, Ron Gordon, director of community initiatives, said. One program is YouMedia at The Dome, where students can maintain their grades and learn new skills.
Students can learn skills like 3D printing, audio recording, computer programming and welding.
Gordon said the district is working to increase programming and is running several summer programs currently.
Safety and crime
One resident said her family feels unsafe on Selma Road, being so close to a Mini Mart and Lo-Cost that have been the sites of shootings and other violent crimes. She said the Mini Mart is operating like a bar, selling single shots of alcohol.
Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliot at the meeting said she cannot speak about active investigations but confirmed that Springfield police and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office are working on liquor license enforcement and other investigations.
“As the police chief I want to make sure that I’m also being mindful of how we handle those situations as well, because I understand how the idea of targeted enforcement or saturating an area ... the perception can be,” Elliot said.
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