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Boardman township establishes relationship with Mahoning County Land Bank
BOARDMAN
The township is one step closer to having its own functional land bank after trustees voted to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Mahoning County Land Bank.
Although the township set up its own land bank in 2012, it is not yet operational.
The program will allow the township to acquire abandoned, vacant, tax-delinquent properties once they have gone through foreclosure.
The Mahoning County Land Bank already acquires those types of properties throughout the county and makes them productive again, through demolition or renovation.
The memorandum of understanding agreed to Monday between the township and the county land bank establishes the requirements and responsibilities for each of the land banks, said Sarah Gartland, township zoning inspector. The understanding paves the way for the township to activate its own land bank, she said.
“This is a way for Boardman not to duplicate, but to enhance, what the [county] land bank does,” said Trustee Larry Moliterno. “How do we prepare for redevelopment I think is the most important part of it.”
The county land bank is set to acquire between eight and 10 properties within the township, which it will spruce up to attract potential buyers, Gartland said.
Properties acquired by the township’s land bank will be handled differently, however, she said.
“We don’t want to manage properties,” she said. “We’re trying to use the [township] land bank to help stabilize neighborhoods and promote redevelopment.”
That might mean holding on to properties and letting them remain vacant rather than trying to sell them right away, she said.
For instance, the township land bank currently has one property, at 77 Prestwick Drive, which Gartland said the township will hold on to, to prevent construction of a multifamily building so the property will remain a green space.
Gartland said she expects the township land bank to be fully operational sometime next year after her department establishes more-specific priorities and plans.
“We really want to lay out very carefully how we will sell, and to who,” she said. “We have to have a plan for what we want to do with these [properties].”