Two weeks ago, at the Joplin City Council meeting, council members received an update on the possible construction of a tiny home community for unhoused people.
However, there was some confusion about why the city owns the land Vita Nova Village wants to build on.
KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.
The non-profit is in the advanced stages of building a 10-duplex community that will include 20 small homes, office space, laundry units, a workshop, and space for classes just south of Boyd Metals near downtown Joplin.
At the council meeting on June 3, officials with Vita Nova Village gave a presentation to the city council that spelled out their will intention plans but there is only one problem.
The city of Joplin currently owns the property that Vita Nova Village wants to build on and there was some misunderstanding about why Vita Nova would have to pay for the land when Joplin gave the non-profit Connect2Culture land to build its Cornell Complex in 2021.
Joplin City Attorney Peter Edwards tried to clear things up Monday night.
“Now that this property has come back into city ownership it’s going to go through the surplus property process. Right now, it’s going to planning and zoning. We expect them to declare it surplus. It will come back to the city council if they declare it surplus then it will go up for public auction.”
Edwards also shared that the city came to own the land after a former company didn’t pay a tax bill. Joplin then paid $18,000 to demolish the building and now owns the property.
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