CORRECTION: The original headline on this article said the Planning Commission voted against condemning the Hynds Building. The commission actually voted to recommend not including any references to condemnation in the Urban Renewal Authority Plan, which would give the URA the power to move forward with condemnation proceedings. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle regrets the error.
CHEYENNE – Cheyenne’s Planning Commission voted Monday night to move the urban renewal plan forward – without recommending condemnation of the Hynds Building and the adjacent “hole,” which was left after the previous location for Mary’s Bake Shoppe burned down in 2004.
Although City Council members can consider other action at their meeting next Monday, commissioners listened to the argument made by Hynds Building Realtor Jim Weaver and voted in agreement. This aligns with the vote by Urban Renewal Authority board members last week, when Weaver and owner David Hatch testified in defense of the building and “hole.”
Discussions between the owner and city officials began after Mayor Patrick Collins informed Weaver and Hatch that the property was included in the Urban Renewal Authority’s expansion plan. The proposed redevelopment could be for commercial, residential or office use, or any mixed use brought forward by a developer. The “hole” in the past has been considered for a parking structure, with active uses on the ground floor.
“The owner should have property rights that hopefully the Planning Commission believes are sacred,” Weaver said Monday. “And we are asking not only do you recommend not adopting this plan, but also direct staff to work with the current owner to try to rectify some of these objections.”
He argued that while the Urban Renewal Authority made the recommendation to take the condemnation and property acquisition language out of the plan, it was still included without an official motion by the City Council. He said he would have preferred the Planning Commission put a stop to the process, and recommend tabling any discussion until the Hynds owner could consider other offers.
If the same conclusion is not drawn by City Council members this coming Monday, the property is at risk of being condemned and bought by eminent domain. It is considered a blight following a resolution passed by the governing body last June.
“These conditions must be met for any project to be included in an urban renewal plan, and to be eligible for the tax increment financing,” city planner Mark Christensen told Monday’s meeting.
Weaver addressed why he believes the study and data used to make the decision to include the Hynds were wrong. He said there have been significant improvements during the six years Hatch has owned the structure, and it should not be combined with the “hole” on issues such as deterioration or potential hazards.
On Tuesday, Mayor Collins told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle he believes there appears to be a definitional problem.
“Do I consider the Hynds Building to be blighted? No, I don’t,” he said. “Do I consider it to be blight by state definition? Absolutely.”
The state definition says if a building is empty, it’s blighted. The mayor said it can be a building as beautiful as the Hynds, and it still falls into that status because there is no one in it. Even though there is art hanging on the first floor due to artists there, he said the majority of the building has been empty for 40 years. He hopes this is not the case for two or three more years, and instead that a tenant is found to rehabilitate the building.
“I’m working really hard to try and help them be successful,” he said. “But the reality is, if they’re not able to be successful, what do we do?”
Collins said the decision the City Council will have to make is whether the Urban Renewal Authority will have the power to acquire the property if it remains empty.
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Jasmine Hall is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s state government reporter. She can be reached by email at jhall@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3167. Follow her on Twitter @jasminerhphotos and on Instagram @jhrose25.
