Roswell will be seeking permission from its residents to add a new mechanism to its ongoing redevelopment endeavor.

On Monday, city council members gave the green light to a special election for a referendum on tax allocation districts, one means of jump-starting redevelopment activities in blighted areas.

City Manager Kay Love told the council that the referendum was just a first step.

“As part of the redevelopment plan we have previously adopted, we have TADs as an economic development tool,” she said. “If affirmed, it would allow Roswell to designate a TAD. It does not obligate or require us to do so. It just allows us to have another tool in our box.”

She said the special election would not cost the city any money as it would part of the Nov. 2 general election ballot.

TADs have been used in Georgia with varying degrees of success to attract developers to areas with vacant commercial and residential properties or properties in need of significant environmental remediation.

To pay for initial improvements, local governments and jurisdictions pledge future incremental increases in property tax revenue generated by new development attracted to the area.

In other business, council members gave Georgia Ensemble Theatre a six-month extension on lease payments for its space in the Roswell Cultural Arts Center.

The theatre company, which suffered financial loss last season because of an unexpected cancellation of a production, has until Dec. 31 to pay the outstanding $23,800.