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administrative offices. Spruce School was going to close but plans were halted because of the pandemic. The school district is currently looking for an operating levy so they may not be ready to do anything with the decommissioned school sites just yet. It is hard for staff and the Commission to plan uses for decommissioned sites that may not come to fruition. The city is working on implementing a small business technical assistance program to help small business owners get through the permitting and development plan process and provide access to resources needed such as IT, human resources and accounting assistance. Mr. Malone was most concerned about the future of the mall and what will happen after the pandemic ends. Ms. Lieber agreed because it has such a large footprint and the retail trend is changing. There was discussion regarding the desirability of having a large online retail distribution center, if available. Ms. Lieber thought the location may be ideal for such a use but may not fit into a mixed use area. Mr. Malone thought the surrounding businesses may benefit from visitors if a large business came in. Ms. Nader thought office space may have been useful but that may not be an option now that people are working from home more. Ms. Lieber pointed out that a residential proposal could be an option for the space but that would require a zoning change or overlay to permit multi -family housing. Ms. Nader thought residential with some retail would be great in a mixed use situation. Mr. Malone thought something like Crocker Park would work well, but he did not want another high-rise apartment building. Mr. Anderson agreed and thought more compact townhouses could be combined with restaurants or small businesses in the space. Mr. Olivos pointed out that the IX -Center is vacant and could be competition for distribution center projects. He thought there is potential to attract lifestyle residential development due to the area and amenities available. Ms. Lieber spoke with the mall manager recently and let them know the city would help in any way possible. She added that there are additional complexities to re -develop the area because there are multiple owners and cross access agreements to navigate. The future of the part-time economic development manager is uncertain due to budget concerns but he has helped with major economic development decisions over the past few years and would be vital to help with strategies to redevelop the mall. Mr. O'Malley believed Columbia and Mastick Roads would be a good opportunity to construct new cluster homes because of the great view. Mr. Malone liked the idea but pointed out that Council members were not supportive of the recent cluster home project proposed on Butternut Ridge Road. Mr. O'Malley thought the Commission could recommend rezoning of areas to encourage cluster home development to increase the amount of new housing stock. Ms. Lieber described the difficulty to get support for cluster or multi -family homes, especially when abutting single family residences. Ms. Lieber reviewed the updates to the housing action items. More tools and resources have been added to help the Building Department with property maintenance enforcement. The Building Department's ordinances and procedures have been improved to better articulate property maintenance standards while allowing for flexibility for homeowners when needed. City staff are utilizing the land bank as a resource but have not acquired land with homes that need to be renovated and sold yet. The CRA program encourages new residential homes instead of home renovations. She asked the Commission if the residential cluster zoned areas should be re- evaluated. Ms. Lieber would still like to have a real estate advisory board, but it has not been a priority. A point-of-sale inspection program had been suggested to ensure cross connections do