Marietta City Council and the redevelopment corporation it appointed to help revitalize the city met September 19 to discuss each group’s roles and accomplishments and ways the two can best work together to accomplish their goals.

The purpose of the 14-member Marietta Redevelopment Corporation (MRC) is to strengthen the economic and residential base of the city of Marietta by revitalizing neighborhoods, commercial areas and other distressed properties. The role of the MRC is to advise city council on redevelopment, make strategic real estate investments in blighted areas, assemble properties for redevelopment where needed, and partner with the public sector to invest in the community.
Importance of work

The groups discussed the importance of their work in:

* Planning the city’s future quality growth
* Retaining current residents by stabilizing neighborhoods
* Ensuring financial stability of the city and its tax base through stable home values
* Quality of life for future generations

Successes

Participants discussed what is working well in the city that can be celebrated and built on:

* Stabilization of the city school system through a replacement of 496 rental units with 906 owner-occupied homes
* “Halo” effect of private developers investing near successful redevelopment projects in the city
* Increase in private investment downtown from $8 million from 1993-2003 to over $344 million today
* Good working relationships among the city council, MRC, school board and county
* Impressive amount of redevelopment occurring for a community of Marietta’s size
* Marketing efforts to promote city’s revitalization through the move2marietta.com Web site, advertising and public/private partnerships
* Marietta Housing Authority efforts to assist first-time homebuyers
* Partnership with Southern Polytechnic State University for planning concepts

Challenges

One of the MRC’s primary challenges of coordination will be helped with the hiring of a full-time executive director. City staff and MRC members will interview five final candidates in the coming weeks with plans to fill the position in October. City Council will likely address issues raised during the meeting with the MRC at its February 2008 retreat.

For more information, call 770-794-7217.

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