Land Swap Benefits Neighborhood, Businessman

Friday, February 17, 2012

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The city will take possession of about a dozen properties on Oak Hill Avenue on the South Side, under an agreement approved Thursday morning by its Board of Control.

The release and settlement agreement calls for the city to take over the properties, located between St. Patrick Church and Tri-County Beverage on Oak Hill, from businessman Hasper Leggett. In return, Leggett would receive five acres of a 21-acre former LTV Steel site at the Center Street Bridge heading toward Campbell.

Hasper has been targeted by authorities in the past over conditions of the properties in the residential neighborhood. some of which he owns and others which he was occupying either by land contract or other agreements, said Robert Rohrbaugh, assistant law director.

Leggett, has been in violation of city zoning laws with his operation in the residential neighborhood for years, said Mayor Charles Sammarone.

"He's a mechanic," repairing trucks and heavy machinery, Rohrbaugh said. He pointed out operating the business at its present location violated city zoning. Also, "it was a tremendous eyesore. There were several inoperable vehicles there," he said.

Rohrbaugh said he was instructed by Sammarone to reach a "compromise" with Leggett.

"The main goal was to clean up the neighborhood he was in -- period," Sammarone remarked. "We didn't want to shut him down."

The property selected for Leggett to receive in exchange wasn't "randomly chosen," Rohrbaugh said. "It was a piece of property that was more conducive to the type of business that we has engaged in," he said.

Fr. Edward Noga, pastor of St. Patrick Church, said he was "thrilled" to hear the news of the agreement. He has complained to city officials for years regarding Leggett's properties.

"I have nothing against his business but it doesn’t belong in a neighborhood setting," he said. Noga is also pleased for Leggett because he will be doing business in setting more conducive to what his company does and for the neighborhood.

"It will clean up a significant amount of property for the South Side renewal efforts," he said. Those efforts have included initiatives by Habitat for Humanity, which is building a house on land the church provided, the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods (better known as Action) and Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative. The church has a community garden, is moving forward on demolishing a former business site where it will plant flowers, and has started a block watch.

"All these things enhance each other and [Leggett's] property didn’t fit into that," Noga said.

The board of control also approved an agreement to pay $4,500 to acquire the site of the former Jitso's Place on McGuffey Road. The bar was closed a couple of years ago as a public nuisance. Under the agreement, the city will use a portion of the money to pay real estate taxes and the balance will be paid to owner Thomas Shockley, who has a Columbus address according to the Mahoning County auditor's website.

Additionally, the board approved two water system grants not to exceed $100,000 each to Bottom Dollar Food Northeast LLC to assist with the installation of water lines, as well as any installation, improvements, enhancements or upgrades, as well as waivers of various permit fees, for its new stores on Glenwood and Mahoning avenues. Bottom Dollar Food recently opened the two stores as well as a third location on East Midlothian Boulevard. Each of the stores is estimated to cost $2.5 million to construct and projected to employ 40 part-time and 10 full-time employees by March.

The board also assigned a portion of an enterprise zone agreement from Superior Chemical Products Co. and a general partnership affiliated with the company to De-Cal Ohio Works LLC and De-Cal Inc. The company plans to hire 40 employees during its first two years. City council authorized the assignment in December.