MANSFIELD — The Downtown Improvement Advisory Board on Thursday unanimously endorsed a program to help building owners improve their properties.
The $66,000, two-year evaluation program will now go to Mansfield City Council for consideration at its next meeting April 5.
The “vertical improvement grant” program, which would be managed by Downtown Mansfield Inc., would offer $30,000 per year for applicants with a maximum grant of $15,000 per project.
DMI would receive 10 percent, or $3,000 annually, for managing the effort.
Funds for the program would come from the city’s downtown improvement fund, created in 2018 when City Council approved a $5 license plate fee as part of an effort to reinvent and revitalize Mansfield’s downtown.
The fee generates about $220,000 annually and has been used on a variety of projects since its inception.
The downtown area designated for the project is Adams Street on the east, Bowman/Sturges on the west, Sixth Street on the north and First Street on the south.
City engineer Bob Bianchi said the program was primarily designed to help property owners bring buildings up to code, assisting with projects such as sprinkler systems, egress/ingress to a building, meeting ADA accessibility laws, etc.
“They have to have a project identified (to apply for a grant),” Bianchi said. “The project has to be identified in terms of what they want to develop, why they want to develop it and what their end use will be.”
He said evaluators would consider the application and look at the associated code requirements that need to be met in order to solidify the development.
“I think it’s important to note the board approved recommending a program not to exceed two years. We can evaluate the success of the program at that time and determine if the board would like to move forward with it in future years,” Bianchi said.
Downtown Improvement Advisory Board members compared the effort to to the DMI facade improvement program, which has received funding from the Richland County Foundation and the City of Mansfield.
In that program, which began in 2001, matching grants are awarded to building owners to make improvements to facades.
The purpose of the facade program is to further economic development, rehabilitate historically significant properties and incentivize property development in downtown Mansfield, according to Jennifer Kime, CEO of Downtown Mansfield, Inc.
