NEDERLAND — Leaders in Nederland have a new tool to encourage redevelopment of older neighborhoods and help with the proposed airport development.

Council members recently adopted a resolution creating a Neighborhood Empowerment Zone that will allow the city to provide tax breaks for property owners in a specified area of the city and act as an economic development incentive for the airport.

The area specified is north of Nederland Avenue, east of Twin City Highway and bound by the city limits. Tax abatement and fee waiver incentives are available for new construction and rehabilitation of older homes as long as the property does not become rental property, City Manager Chris Duque said.

The selected area is one of the oldest in the city.

“This will allow a property owner to rehab a home, maybe put a new roof on it or remodel it inside, add on,” Duque said. A property owner can also demolish an older home and build a new one. “The program encourages people to upgrade their property, which adds to the values in the city.”

The redevelopment of targeted areas fits in with the goal of the NEZ.

A homeowner will be eligible for a 5-year tax abatement by meeting certain criteria. Eligible projects are for the construction or renovation of owner-occupied single-family homes, office, retail, restaurant and multi-family residential facilities within the zone. Information about the program and criteria can be obtained from the City of Nederland.

“One of the things that we put into the resolution is that while the property is being abated it has to remain yours and no rental property,” he said. This is encouraging single family development in the city.”

Incentives will not be offered to sexually oriented businesses, non-residential mobile structures, tattoo parlors, slot machine businesses, drive-through businesses that offer alcohol, mobile and industrial home sales, check cashing stores, taxi stands, billboards and non-conforming uses.

Kay DeCuir, executive director of the NEDC, said the part of the resolution that deals with redevelopment of older neighborhoods can be a good tool for homeowners who need a new roof on their home or have always wanted to pour a driveway or add a garage.

“This is a chance to beautify your home and improve the home value all the way around and not pay city taxes,” DeCuir said. “This is exciting and a great thing. We have a lot of people buying older homes ad tearing them down to build new ones. As you know, we are landlocked. So a person can tear down an older home or business and have the debris hauled away at the city’s expense.”

DeCuir encourages property owners in the targeted area to get an application.

Duque said applications are available at City Hall. Once the application is reviewed, it will be presented to city council for final approval before it goes into effect.

“We talked about what incentives the Nederland Economic Development Corporation and the city could offer, down the road, to persons who wanted to be part of the airport development,” he said. “We researched different tools the state provides cities for economic development and found the Neighborhood Empowerment Zone. We found it is a good tool and provides a lot of flexibility on what city council can do.”

The airport development part of the NEZ allows for 10-year property tax abatement; the abatement would only apply to the improvements, since the land is owned by Jefferson County. To qualify for this, there must be a minimum investment of $10 million, he said.

“Sometimes you have to think outside the box, and this is us trying to encourage economic development at the airport and redevelopment of older neighborhoods,” he said. “City council wants to see where this is at six months from now and maybe do another section of town and get it looking better. They are really interested in this and want to see how it goes.”

NEZ’s are not a new issue. Beaumont, Port Arthur, San Antonio, Fort Worth, El Paso, Carrolton, McKinney, Seabrook, Galveston and more already have this plan in place.