Indiana County Office of Planning & Development- New Project to Begin

The Indiana County Office of Planning & Development is developing a Blighted Properties Inventory in accordance with the Indiana County Housing Plan, adopted in 2014.  The purpose of the project is to assess information on properties that are abandoned, overgrown, or unsafe among other factors in order to better understand the issue of blight in the County.

 

In order to collect data for the project, field work will be conducted from November 2016 through April 2017 during regular business hours.  This will consist of taking pictures from the public right of way and completing assessments using a blight characteristics checklist.

 

In the first phase of this project, we will be focusing on the following thirteen Indiana County municipalities: Burrell, Center, and White Townships and the Boroughs of Armagh, Blairsville, Clymer, Creekside, Ernest, Homer City, Indiana, Plumville, Saltsburg, and Smicksburg.  Other communities will be added in the future as the project continues.

 

Ultimately, the final product will include mapping and geographic analysis, pictures, and summarization of data collected in the field in a report format that will help to provide an understanding of blight throughout the county, what it looks like, where it seems to concentrate, and to what degree. We can then use this information to work toward accomplishing our strategic goals regarding housing and particularly blight throughout Indiana County.

 

Any questions regarding the Blighted Properties Inventory project or associated field work may be directed to

 

Josh Krug, AICP

Deputy Director, Planning Section

(724) 465-3877

jkrug@ceo.co.indiana.pa.us.