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City Council Monday came to a consensus on hiring an executive director for the Redevelopment Authority/Land Bank, a post that hasn't existed for a couple of generations.
Council reached that informal consensus after a presentation by consultant Winnie Branton on eminent domain and conservatorship, tools the RA/LB could use to help get problem properties rehabilitated in order to improve neighborhoods and build up the tax base -- instead of diminishing the tax base by continuing to handle blight through demolition alone.
A dedicated executive director for the RA/LB could help navigate the complexities involved in obtaining blighted properties for rehab, including extensive notice requirements, balky and litigious owners, deceased owners, tangled ownership webs, extensive liens, legal protections against unfair government taking -- and shepherding contractors through renovations, according to officials.
An executive director would "organize, outline, set metrics and execute" RA/LB business, because people like Community Development Director Diana White and Department of Codes and Enforcement Director Rebecca Brown already have plenty to do, said Councilman Jesse Ickes.
An executive director would be "accountable," said Councilman Ron Beatty, who brought up the idea.
The city will probably advertise for the newly created post soon, Ickes said.
He said it's likely a new director will be in place by June.
The recently created Land Bank and the newly reinvigorated RA has nearly completed acquisition of two blighted homes, one that was donated and one for which a bank has forgiven the mortgage, but those are among the easier potential situations, according to Beatty.
Eminent domain and conservatorship will be useful for more difficult situations caused by owners who are determined to put up resistance, Beatty said.
Council members seemed to look favorably on that pair of options.
"Whatever tool it takes, council is interested," Beatty said.
Some communities hesitate to use eminent domain, but some have had success using it to contend with blight, Branton said.
Most of those communities convene a Blighted Property Review Committee to declare properties blighted in preparation for the takings, she said.
Altoona has a BPRC, but it has been inactive for about a decade, officials said.
The BPRC was used when the RA would acquire properties prior to demolishing them through its long-running blight removal program, which is funded with Community Development Block Grant money, Brown said.
The BPRC became inactive when the city stopped acquiring blighted properties prior to demolitions, to avoid the need to maintain the vacant lots that resulted.
The city probably should reactivate the committee, but this time, use it to rehabilitate rather than demolish, officials said.
It's not always mandatory to use a BPRC to exercise eminent domain, according to city solicitor Tom Finn.
A couple years ago, the city obtained the blighted former McCrory's building on 11th Avenue from its owner without using the BPRC, Finn said.
Working in the city's favor was the building's long, clear history as a blighted structure, according to Finn.
Conservatorship enables various parties to petition the court to take possession, but not title, for blighted properties that are vacant.
Municipalities, redevelopment authorities, land banks, school districts, nonprofits, nearby businesses and -- importantly -- neighbors can petition for that purpose, Branton said.
The process requires adequate notice to all potential stakeholders, and can be lengthy and difficult, according to Branton.
Owners have an opportunity to argue for the opportunity to delay the process to bring their properties up to code.
In Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, neighbors have used the process, according to Branton.
So have entrepreneurs, which can generate controversy.
One of the potential drawbacks is its attraction for "overzealous private developers," Branton said.
In other parts of the state, municipal bodies have been the primary users of the tool, Branton said.
Properties can eventually be sold free and clear of all liens, including federal liens, she said.
Eminent domain, conservatorship and land banks are the "big three" tools for fighting blight, Branton said.
The primary power of land banks is to intervene with "priority bids" to obtain properties that go for judicial tax sale, to keep them from buyers who will let them continue to fester, Branton has said.
"The more tools you have, the easier it will be to solve (the problem properties)," Branton said.
Attachment of private assets for irresponsible landowners is one of the tools provided by the state's Act 90, but it hasn't been used yet in Pennsylvania, Branton said.
The RA/LB intends to serve as the developer for rehabilitation of up to four properties, hiring contractors to fix them, then selling them on the open market, subsidizing that effort with money provided by the city from its $39.6 million American Rescue Plan Act allocation.
After that, the plan is merely to facilitate private development of such blighted properties.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.