ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

ST. LOUIS • With an estimated 7,100 abandoned structures today, vacancy is a bigger problem than the city can handle on its own.

But a formal working relationship between the city, legal clinics, community development organizations and neighborhood nonprofits is close, those working on city vacancy issues say. They’re working to create a “vacancy advisory committee,� overseen by a dedicated staff member, to coordinate resources from the public and nonprofit worlds.

And several organizations, including the city, have recently supplemented their blight-fighting efforts with new staff and funding.

“So many people have come together on this, and that is the reason I think we’ll make some good progress here,� Mayor Lyda Krewson said Tuesday morning, standing before a coalition of area groups that are working on problem property issues.

The nonprofit Legal Services of Eastern Missouri this month hired Peter Hoffman to lead its new . Hoffman headed the nonprofit clinic that helped neighborhood groups address vacant properties in Kansas City, a program ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ officials hope to emulate.

“We will hold absentee and negligent property owners accountable through litigation,� Legal Services Executive Director Dan Glazier said.

The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Development Corporation, the city’s economic development arm, hired its own staff member, former Development Strategies analyst , to coordinate vacancy efforts across city departments.

“He’s going to be reaching out to all these agencies working in this ecosystem,� SLDC Director Otis Williams said. “He’s working both the public and private piece to try and pull it all together.�

Krewson, meanwhile, . The to create green space that can absorb rainfall.

A big boost could come in court, where . A majority supported it, but there’s disagreement over the margin necessary to issue bonds. “It would be a really big opportunity for us to make a difference,� Krewson told the Post-Dispatch.

She also said that she intends to sign a bill passed by the Board of Aldermen on Monday that would remove an exemption on code violation fees within a redevelopment area. Bill sponsor Cara Spencer has pointed out that many such properties are in developer in north ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, which critics contend has been allowed to further deteriorate since the developer began assembling property there 15 years ago.

With fees of less than $1,000 per year for noncompliant properties, the mayor called the measure a small but important piece to the city’s vacancy efforts. “We’re trying to encourage people to take steps and fix up their building or sell that building to someone who will.�

Coordinating the different efforts will be a full-time job.

“It’s difficult to maintain momentum around work like this without someone dedicated to making sure people are moving in the same direction,� said Jenny Connelly-Bowen of the Community Builders Network, a nonprofit association of community development groups.

A grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health and support from the Missouri Department of Conservation will allow .

“It’s a dedicated staff person whose mental energy is completely focused so that this collaborative group of experts is moving toward the goal of tackling vacancy in a meaningful and effective way,� she said.