A look at 3 major projects in the works for city of Youngstown, Ohio

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Big changes are in the works for Youngstown. Several projects and initiatives were unveiled during Tuesday night’s Community Planning and Economic Development meeting.

The intersection of West Warren Avenue and Hillman Street sits vacant — sidewalks are overgrown and trash lines the road. But come October, this area will be in the beginning stages of development.

“There’s four corners there. All four corners we purchased for the Veteran’s Haven program. Our first phase is the homeless shelter,” said Brandi Parker with Family and Community Services.

The shelter will be made out of shipping containers and outfitted into living spaces.

“Our second and third phases are to add permanent supportive housing on those lots,” Parker said.

A proposal from the Youngstown Renters Association aims to increase renters’ rights by cutting down on income discrimination.

“People are being refused housing because they’re using Section 8 as a source of income,” said Elisa Hosey with the Youngstown Renters Association.

The Youngstown Renters Association also suggested city council make an ordinance that standardizes utility meters for rental properties and would require landlords to give tenants a receipt after they pay their monthly rent.

“You have an instance of a multiplex or duplex and there’s one meter. Then you’re dividing or estimating what each person is using,” Hosey said.

Lastly, Valley Christian Schools is planning to rip down the old South Field House and replace it with a new sports complex.

“We want to put in a track, a turf field and a stadium and then also a beautiful building that kind of memorializes the rich tradition of football down in that area,” said Mike Pecchia with Valley Christian Schools.

According to First Ward Councilman Julius Oliver, city council is in favor of all three initiatives.

“We’ve been trying to do transformative projects. These transformative projects, which have been in the works for years, are finally coming to fruition and we think these are going to be truly things that change our city,” Oliver said.