North End planners in ‘crunch time’ prior to submission

‘YOUR PLAN’ — A banner advertising the Steubenville North Choice Neighborhoods Plan stood on a North Fifth Street parcel slated to house the plan’s early action project, a community learning center and garden. Visible nearby are the John F. Kennedy Apartments, which the plan seeks to replace through Department Housing and Urban Development grant funding. -- Christopher Dacanay
STEUBENVILLE — Steubenville North Choice Neighborhoods officials were reportedly in “crunch time” on Thursday, delivering a final analysis of their plan less than 24 hours ahead of its submission deadline.
Chris Petrossi, the city’s urban projects director, said that he, Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority Executive Director Melody McClurg and others were “all reviewing (the plan), making sure that all the I’s are dotted, the T’s are crossed, and getting it ready for submission to (the Department of Housing and Urban Development) by tomorrow.”
Come the plan’s submission to HUD on Friday, the city and JMHA will have concluded a two-year planning process to apply for between $30 million and $50 million in HUD Choice Neighborhoods implementation grant funds to help redevelop Steubenville’s North End neighborhood.
HUD is expected to award two to three implementation grants in 2025, provided the program receives the $140 million promised by President Joe Biden’s proposed budget. If awarded to Steubenville, those competitive implementation funds could facilitate a major transformation of the North End.
Petrossi couldn’t comment on the final plan Thursday, as reviews were ongoing. However, he anticipated presenting it to the public during a community meeting next month — scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Jan. 14 in the Steubenville High School STEM building’s conference room.
Eliza Kelley, president and founder of the plan’s project manager EMIT Training Consultants, said she’s “very eager” to share the plan with community members on Jan. 14 and expected “great success” from the North End project.
In 2022, the city and JHMA applied for and were awarded a $500,000 HUD planning grant to map out potential redevelopment in the North End. The plan would focus on fully replacing 206 units of low-income housing — shared between JMHA’s John F. Kennedy Apartments and Elmer White Family Units — and other areas of opportunity with new, mixed-income developments.
Consultants COLLABO and Vireo contributed to the planning process, which commenced in 2023 and saw a North End resident needs assessment survey and real estate market analysis gathered. Further input from residents and local stakeholders continued to shape the plan through numerous community and task force meetings.
Planners developed three draft concepts detailing possible layouts for the redeveloped North End, based on community members’ preferences. The most favored aspects from each concept would be combined into a single preferred concept prior to submission.
Officials also took steps toward an “early action project” to demonstrate their commitment to redevelopment efforts. A community garden and learning space would be constructed on parcels near East Garfield Elementary School, utilizing a fifth of the HUD planning grant funds and another $100,000 from the city. Officials broke ground at the site in July.
Formalized in May, a draft plan identified actionable improvement initiatives centered around the North End’s neighborhood, housing and people. Fashioned by residents, the initiatives range from creating a fresh food grocery store to enhancing neighborhood streetlights.
Planners finalized a draft implementation plan in October and selected Columbus-based WODA Cooper Cos. as the development partner.
The overall draft plan can be viewed at steubenvillechoice.com. It does not include the preferred concept or implementation structure, both of which will be included in the final plan.