Cleveland and Detroit have adopted aggressive demolition policies.
How do the aggressive demolition policies work?
- Funded by federal government’s Hardest Hit Fund
- Funds demolition of vacant homes to convert to green spaces & community gardens
Category Archives: blight
LOCAL Trend. 4 years. 75% reduction in vacant buildings. 3 Steps.
In under 4 years, St. Petersburg Florida reduced the number of vacant homes by 75%.
How did St. Petersburg achieve this?
- Used courts to foreclose properties for unpaid taxes
- Targets proeprties owned by absentee landlords
- Then the city sells the property to:
- nonprofit affordable housing developers for $4,000 or
- sells the foreclosed properties at auction
Local TREND. No Eminent Domain for Special Districts?
Where: Kerrville, TX
The local government action: Amending the creation of TIRZ 1 to prohibit the use of eminent domain
Did it pass? No, it did not pass for procedural reasons
Kerrville Daily Times | Council nixes eminent domain TIRZ clarification
Local TREND. Anatomy of a Blight Tax. AKA Community Redevelopment Tax Incentive ordinance
What city implemented a blight tax? Savannah Gerogia
What did they name their blight tax? Community Redevelopment Tax Incentive ordinance
How does it work? When a property is designated as blighte dby the city, the property tax increases 7 fold
What types of properties are impacted?
- properties that are easily accessible
- pose a safety risk
- are a haven for criminal activity
- BUT NOT, property that is boarded up, secured & have no property maintenance violations
What is the rate of…
Kelo Fix loophole. Cities Using Eminent Domain to Boost Revenues? WHERE. WHAT. HOW.
WHERE: Illinois
WHAT: Condemning swaths of property as “blighted” to redevelop the property as higher tax revenue.
HOW is this happening when Illinois also prohibited eminent domain for economic development purposes? The blight designation in Illinois allows other neighboring, non-blighted properties to also be taken.
KPVI | Some Illinois cities eye eminent domain to boost revenue
Local TREND. Local Land Banks to Remedy Blight. WHO.WHAT. WHERE.
WHERE | Georgia
WHO | Gainesville City Council
WHAT | Gainesville-Hall County Land Bank under the 2012 Georgia Land Bank Act
What will the Land Bank do?
- rehabilitate vacant or blighted properties by acquire
- manage and sell properties that may be sitting empty due to foreclosure, tax delinquency, code violations or title complications
- will not make a profit from sale of the properties
Will the Land Bank have the power of eminent domain? NO
Lege TREND. How an eminent domain prohibition bill carved out utilities.
What use of eminent domain caused the legislation: A school disrict in Pennsylvania needed to expand and made an attempt to use eminent domain for open space land
What was the legislative response? Pennsylvnaia Legislature responded by enacting, and the Governo r signing, HB 2468 (PA | 2018)
What does HB 2468 (PA | 2018) prohibits eminent domain for open space unless:
- a court grants permission because there is no other reasonable and prudent alternative
- its a utility exercizing…
Lege TREND. Protecting Open Spaces by Prohibiting Eminent Domain.
Pennsylvania HB 2468 (2018 | PA) protects open space by making it harder to condemn land that is subject to a Conservation Easement.
How does this work?
- Land subject to a conservation easement cannot be condemned unless:
- An court says that eminent domain can be used
- A court can only say that eminent domain can be used if:
- necessary for the health and safety of a community
- no other reasonable and prudent alternative
TRENDS 2018 Local Property Ordinances
- NH town wants to redefine nuisance to cover more blighted property
- IL town wants noise and light regulations for wind turbines
- Spokane WA wants to prohibit drone use that is dangerous
- 5 Cities Fight Blight with vacant property TAXES
- Farmington UT used a Agricultural Protection Area to protect farm land from eminent domain
- Southington, CT sends blight citations to housing court rather than fines and police enforcement
Legal TREND. Housing Fine Caps.
When Missouri capped local revenue from trffic tickets at 30%, the number of fines issued for housing violations skyrocketed.
39% of the adult population in Pagedale, Missouri was issued a housing fine.
Lawsuits ensued.
This week a consent decree was entered that will:
- require the city to re-write its housing code
- require good cause prosecution for housing fines
- no jail, no contempt charges
institute for justice | Federal Court Approves Historic Consent Decree Ending “Policing for Profit”…