By Aaron Besecker and Denise Jewell Gee
March 27, 2012
Erie County and the cities of Buffalo, Lackawanna and Tonawanda appear to be on a joint course to form one of the state's first land banks.
Pending state approval, proponents say, these governments will have another tool to combat vacant and distressed properties.
Under a state law signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last July, municipalities can form nonprofit corporations equipped with the power to cut out land speculators.
"The whole purpose is to have a coordinated -- and hopefully regional -- strategy on dealing with the abandoned-property crisis in various regions," said Sam Hoyt, regional president for Empire State Development Corp., who also sponsored the legislation when he was in the Assembly.
What would this land bank do?
Just like a municipality, it can own and dispose of property. It also carries the responsibility of maintaining the ones it does own.
The land bank, also just like municipalities, can bid for properties at tax foreclosure auctions.
But what's different with these organizations is, essentially, if they bid the amount equal to what's owed in back taxes and fees on the property, they automatically win the auction and become the property owner.
Without the land bank, a municipality may have to outbid a speculator in order to get control of a property, said Brendan R. Mehaffy, executive director of the City of Buffalo's Office of Strategic Planning.
In addition to the three cities, the agency would be able to address properties in the county's 25 towns and 16 villages.
"The land bank just really simplifies the process of municipalities getting title to vacant land and then being able to dispose of it more efficiently and in accordance with locally crafted plans," said Michael Clarke, executive director of Local Initiatives Support Corp. in Buffalo, which has advocated for the creation of a regional land bank.
A land bank would have the power to obtain a property that is deemed vacant or abandoned, or that is going through or has gone through the tax foreclosure process. It does not have eminent domain powers.
The land bank also would not pursue ownership of a property that the host municipality does not want it to acquire, said Maria R. Whyte, county commissioner of environment and planning.
Under the proposal, which is expected to be endorsed by the County Legislature on Thursday, much of the nonprofit's initial assets would be in-kind services provided by member municipalities, Mehaffy said.
The Buffalo Common Council unanimously supported the application last week, while the cities of Tonawanda and Lackawanna previously endorsed the submission.
Supporters of a regional approach to addressing vacant land say it's a significant step that the county and the three cities were able to hammer out an agreement to submit one proposal.
At last week's Council meeting, when the agreement among Buffalo, the county and the other two cities was announced, Mehaffy called it a "historic day."
But it was a day that almost did not happen.
At one point, the joint proposal appeared ready to fall apart when Mayor Byron W. Brown and Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz were unable to agree on the number of seats the city should have on the board. Brown had sought six seats for city representatives. Poloncarz initially proposed that the city have three appointments and later offered five, according to letters the two leaders exchanged.
Brown and Poloncarz came together on a joint land bank proposal after a Saturday morning meeting earlier this month.
"The message was Empire State Development wanted to see a joint application and would look less favorably on individual applications," Clarke said.
Under the joint proposal, the land bank -- which would be known as the Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Improvement Corp. -- would have an 11-member board, consisting of five city representatives, three county reps and one each from Lackawanna, Tonawanda and Empire State Development, the state's economic development agency.
The state agency, Hoyt said, is accepting applications to form a land bank through Friday. The agency will approve up to five applications in the first round. The deadline for the second round of submissions has not been set.
Between three and five regions have contacted the agency with questions, but Hoyt said he was not sure how many applications will be coming in.
The agency does not have to approve five applications, he said.
While Buffalo faces the most abandoned properties in the region, the issue does extend into other cities, first-ring suburb, and even some rural towns, Hoyt said.
As of May 2011, more than 16,000 of Buffalo's approximately 95,000 parcels were vacant. Nearly 6,600 of the vacant ones were city-owned, according to the Office of Strategic Planning.