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193 <br /> <br />business and any other project area business concerns shall be <br />utilized in activities which are funded with HOME funds. <br /> <br /> Ms. Slaughter recommended that Council hold a work <br />session to discuss housing issues in the near future. <br /> <br />PUBLIC HEARING: PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT TO ALLOW COUNCIL TO <br />CREATE NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION DISTRICTS IN CERTAIN AREAS <br /> <br /> Mr. Clyde Gouldman, City Attorney, explained that while <br />members of Subcommittee #2 of the full House Committee on <br />Counties, Cities~ and Towns had acknowledged that the City <br />had fulfilled all legal obligations for public notice and <br />hearings, they requested, after hearing a complaint that there <br />had been inadequate public participation, that another public <br />hearing be held prior to a vote by the committee. <br /> <br /> Ms. Slaughter explained that the charter amendment would <br />give the City the authority to create an ordinance after a <br />lengthy process which would involve further public meetings <br />and hearings. <br /> <br />The public hearing was opened. <br /> <br /> Mr. John T. Spears, past president of the NAACP and a <br />member of the 10th and Page Street Task Force, stated that <br />Community Development Block Grant funds have been used to <br />preserve and improve the neighborhood and measures needed to <br />be taken to protect and preserve the neighborhood, with the <br />final decision as to the use of the property left to the <br />owners. With the fear of University of Virginia encroachment, <br />Mr. Spears stated that he felt establishment of a conservation <br />district would be the lesser of two evils. <br /> <br /> Ms. Charlotte Self, 612 Lexington Avenue, explained that <br />living near Martha Jefferson Hospital has made her aware of <br />conflicts between residential neighborhoods and hospital <br />encroachment and she felt the proposal for conservation <br />districts could help preserve neighborhoods and would support <br />the districts if created in the interest of and at the request <br />of neighborhood residents. <br /> <br /> Mr. James King, 2607 Jefferson Park Circle, noted that <br />there would be a long process of public participation prior to <br />enacting an ordinance creating conservation districts and felt <br />that local government needed the power to set up such <br />districts. <br /> <br /> Ms. Patricia Edwards, 503 Brown Street and a member of <br />the West Main Street Task Force, noted that creation of the <br />conservation districts was being pursued at the request of <br />residents adjacent to the West Main Street corridor and she <br />favored Council having the ability to look into the matter <br />further and adopt legislation Council deemed appropriate. <br /> <br /> Ms. Sue Lewis, 1615-B Amherst Street and Chair of the <br />Planning Commission, stated that the Planning Commission <br />supported the charter change which will provide an opportunity <br />for further public comment. Ms. Lewis stated that there is a <br />need to conserve neighborhoods and felt that regulations for <br />such districts would be less burdensome than those in historic <br />districts. <br /> <br /> Mr. Gib Akin, 501 Park Hill and a Planning Commission <br />member, supported the charter amendment and felt that it was <br />an essential planning tool for neighborhood conservation and <br />self-determination. <br /> <br /> Mr. Jim Hahn, an Albemarle County resident and real <br />estate broker who owns and manages property in the City, <br />stated that he has witnessed the gradual deterioration of <br />property in the area adjacent to West Main Street and felt <br />that creation of conservation districts will lock in slums, <br /> <br /> <br />