PRINTER'S NO. 1006
No. 790 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY KUKOVICH, MELLOW, O'PAKE, LAVALLE, WOZNIAK, MUSTO,
HUGHES, KASUNIC, TARTAGLIONE, COSTA, LOGAN, KITCHEN, STACK,
FUMO, WAGNER, BOSCOLA, C. WILLIAMS, A. WILLIAMS, SCHWARTZ,
FERLO, STOUT, EARLL, ORIE AND CONTI, JUNE 24, 2003
REFERRED TO COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, JUNE 24, 2003
AN ACT
1 Providing for a residential neighborhood enhancement program to
2 be administered by the Department of Community and Economic
3 Development.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Elm Street
8 Act.
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Department." The Department of Community and Economic
14 Development of the Commonwealth.
15 "Established residential neighborhood." A defined geographic
16 area which has consisted of buildings and structures for housing
17 individuals and families in close proximity to a commercial
1 district and which has existed as a residential neighborhood
2 since before 1961.
3 "Main Street Program." The program administered by the
4 Department of Community and Economic Development designed to
5 assist a community's downtown economic development effort
6 through the establishment of a local organization dedicated to
7 downtown revitalization and management of downtown
8 revitalization by hiring a full-time professional downtown
9 coordinator.
10 "Program." The Elm Street Program as established in section
11 3.
12 Section 3. Elm Street Program.
13 (a) Establishment.--There is established an Elm Street
14 Program within the department which shall assist municipalities
15 in preparing and implementing a revitalization strategy for
16 established residential neighborhoods either in the vicinity of
17 a Main Street Program project or in close proximity to an
18 existing commercial district.
19 (b) Applications.--The department shall prepare application
20 forms for the grant program established in this act and award
21 grants to municipalities and other eligible entities based on
22 the requirements in subsection (c). The department shall require
23 that a map be furnished with all applications clearly
24 identifying the established residential neighborhood and
25 demonstrating its close proximity to a commercial district.
26 (c) Program requirements.--The program shall:
27 (1) Provide basic grants for a maximum of five years per
28 project for administrative costs associated with the hiring
29 of a professional Elm Street Manager, who may serve as an
30 assistant to the Main Street Manager if a Main Street Program
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1 exists within a municipality.
2 (2) Provide residential reinvestment grants for
3 infrastructure and structural improvements, including, but
4 not limited to, streets, street lights, trees, exteriors of
5 buildings and sidewalks or other pedestrian-oriented
6 features.
7 (3) Provide planning and development grants for:
8 (i) Marketing and promoting urban residential
9 living.
10 (ii) Leveraging additional private and public
11 investment.
12 (iii) Promoting home ownership and other housing
13 options.
14 (iv) Addressing social and economic concerns
15 including, but not limited to, crime, blight, employment
16 opportunities and public services and amenities.
17 (v) Achieving consistency, whenever appropriate,
18 with existing commercial and residential revitalization
19 efforts.
20 (4) Provide an assessment of the applying
21 municipalities' need for the following:
22 (i) The establishment of a neighborhood improvement
23 district as defined in the act of December 20, 2000
24 (P.L.949, No.130), known as the Neighborhood Improvement
25 District Act.
26 (ii) A review of local comprehensive plans and
27 zoning and other land use ordinances to foster the
28 viability of established residential neighborhoods, with
29 a balanced mix of commercial, civic, employment and
30 residential uses, with particular attention to a
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1 diversity of housing options.
2 (iii) A review of educational and recreational
3 opportunities and facilities.
4 (d) Eligibility.--Municipalities or their designated
5 agencies must meet the following criteria:
6 (1) Have an established residential neighborhood in need
7 of revitalization in close proximity to a commercial
8 district.
9 (2) Have expressed support by local residents, merchants
10 and government officials.
11 (3) Have ability to provide a minimum of a 10% match in
12 financial and/or in-kind support for any department grants
13 from other public or private sources based upon departmental
14 guidelines. The department may waive or reduce the matching
15 requirement if it determines such requirement would
16 constitute a hardship upon the municipality or an agency
17 designated by the municipality. A hardship exists if the
18 municipality meets one of the following criteria:
19 (1) The municipality is declared as financially
20 distressed under the act of July 10, 1987 (P.L.246, No.47),
21 known as the Municipalities Financial Recovery Act.
22 (2) The matching requirements for the application would
23 exceed 5% of the municipality's annual operating budget.
24 (3) Part or all of the established residential
25 neighborhood identified in the application is participating
26 in the Pennsylvania Weed and Seed Program as administered by
27 the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
28 (4) A minimum of 20% of the municipality's population
29 falls below 150% of the Federal poverty level.
30 (e) Multiple projects.--The department may approve more than
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1 one project within the boundaries of a municipality. Multiple
2 projects may occur simultaneously or at different periods of
3 time.
4 (f) Cooperative projects.--The department may consider
5 applications submitted by two or more municipalities as a single
6 application for a single project area.
7 (g) Priority projects.--The department shall give priority
8 to projects with an established residential neighborhood that
9 was already in existence prior to 1951.
10 (h) Limits.--The department shall establish limits on the
11 amount of money available per project area so as to distribute
12 the available funds as fairly as possible throughout this
13 Commonwealth.
14 Section 4. Limitations.
15 (a) Program limits.--In no case shall the aggregate amount
16 of grants in any fiscal year exceed the amount of the
17 appropriation to the department for the program in that fiscal
18 year. The provision of grants under this act shall in no way
19 constitute an entitlement derived from the Commonwealth or a
20 claim on any other funds of the Commonwealth.
21 (b) Prohibitions.--No funds from this program shall be
22 expended to develop or convert farmland to residential,
23 commercial or industrial uses. Farmland is any land that
24 supports, or land with a recent history of supporting, the
25 commercial production of agricultural crops, livestock or
26 livestock products, poultry products, milk or dairy products,
27 fruit or other horticultural products.
28 Section 5. Effective date.
29 This act shall take effect immediately.
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