The city is exploring the possibility of creating a “scattered site redevelopment plan,” in which several delinquent or problem properties are examined and declared in need of redevelopment.

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In his report to the Redevelopment Agency during its regular meeting — held via Zoom — on Wednesday, Executive Director Robert Landolfi said there would be no action required by the Redevelopment Agency but commissioners should be aware of it.

There are several single properties scattered throughout the city that are vacant or have “very serious” code enforcement issues and are basically uninhabitable, Landolfi said. There are about five or six of those sites, which he didn’t specifically identify, that would be examined to determine whether they might qualify as areas in need of redevelopment under the state’s Local Redevelopment and Housing Law (LRHL). Those individual properties could then be put together to be declared as areas in need of redevelopment and could be “rehabilitated in various forms on an individual basis,” he said.

The Redevelopment Agency could get involved at the tail end of that process, Landolfi said, such as selecting a redeveloper and making a determination of what could be done with the sites. At this point in time, he emphasized that it was purely informational but thinks that the administration will recommend it to City Council. Should City Council act on the measure, it would have to go through the typical Planning Board process of studying and declaring an area in need of redevelopment.

For instance, the Planning Board designated several contiguous properties on Esterbrook Avenue as an area in need of redevelopment last May, after a study earlier in the year. The same process was followed when the former St. Mark’s Church, and several adjacent properties, were deemed as meeting redevelopment area criteria.

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