The good news: Bill No. 130156 was reported out of Philadelphia City Council's Committee on Public Property and Public Works. I represented PennFuture at the hearing last Monday and encouraged the Committee to create a land bank that prioritizes sustainable reuses such as side yards, community gardens, urban agriculture and other green space.
The bad news (well, let's not call it bad news so much as room for improvement): The bill was amended at the last minute to require three elected and appointed public bodies to approve the transfer of every one of the almost 10,000 parcels of the city’s publicly owned vacant property.
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| PennFuture's Director of Outreach, Andrew Sharp, testifies at last Monday's land bank hearing. |
The amendments to Bill No. 130156 made in Committee would require a resident who seeks to buy the vacant blighted lot next door to be approved by Land Bank staff, the Vacant Property Review Committee, City Council and the Land Bank Board – a process that will involve the approval of more than 41 individuals and be lengthy, redundant and offer significant uncertainty. Requiring three separate public bodies to approve each property transfer will discourage, rather than encourage, rehabilitation of blighted properties.
This is a critical moment for Philadelphia to create an effective new Land Bank and a streamlined process to transfer vacant land to new, sustainable reuse. Philly is growing again for the first time in six decades. We need new policies to capitalize on this growth. This is the opportunity for City Council and the Nutter Administration to create a smart, effective Land Bank.
We call on City Council to pass a Land Bank bill that establishes a disposition system that requires decision making by two entities at most – with all initial vetting, legal and administrative processes, and public outreach conducted by the land bank staff. Anything less is unjust to the Philadelphians who are saddled with vacant, blighted properties and the people who are doing the hard work of revitalizing our neighborhoods and putting properties back to sustainable reuse.
