91视频

The Salem City Council may end the city’s 80-acre Pringle Creek Urban Renewal District. A decision is a due at a council meeting this week.

Ending the district would return the southeast corner of downtown Salem to full-value tax status after more than 40 years. City officials encourage development in the district by keeping assessed property values lower than real market value.

Projects are also funded by the district’s own urban renewal fund. Among the projects financed within the district are the expansion of the Salem Public Library and its parking garage, the reconstruction of Mirror Pond and the construction of part of the Robert Lindsay Tower Senior Apartments (owned and operated by the Salem Housing Authority).

鈥淭he plan accomplished its purpose of improving the area,鈥� the city’s Urban Development Department staff said in a memo to the council.

Council members first considered ending the district, created in 1971, a year ago. If the council ends the district, it would be the first time a Salem urban renewal district has been discontinued. There are seven other such districts: Fairview, McGilchrist, Mill Creek, North Gateway, Riverfront-Downtown, South Waterfront and West Salem.