Rundown homes dotting 色多多 and a wooded slope beside Orange Avenue Northwest are two areas where city officials aim to ease the housing shortage.
City staffers are proposing a new Blighted & Derelict Structures Program to disincentivize the presence of janky and vacant homes in 色多多. Planning Director Jillian Papa briefed the city council during its meeting Monday.
鈥淲e are a city, we鈥檙e landlocked,鈥 Papa said. 鈥淚n order for us to grow, our growth depends on efficient use of our remaining land.鈥
Residents have been vocal about wanting to see various properties revitalized, she said. In addition, the city is searching for methods to relieve a housing shortage that鈥檚 been measured in thousands of units.
Take a look through almost any neighborhood to find examples of unmaintained or otherwise abandoned houses. Councilman Phazhon Nash said he knows where to find one.
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鈥淚 got a derelict property on my street,鈥 Nash said. 鈥淥n the corner.鈥
Changes in state law now enable the city to charge higher tax rates on properties that are considered blighted or derelict, said Deputy City Attorney David Collins.
鈥淏lighted property, under state code, is generally defined as property that poses a threat to the safety, health or welfare of the public due to the condition of the property being in a deteriorated or dilapidated state,鈥 Collins said.
Properties are considered derelict if they鈥檝e been vacant, boarded up, and disconnected from utilities for at least six months, he said. A new law enabling the city to reclaim abandoned land goes into effect July 1.
鈥淭his legislation essentially allows localities the opportunity to acquire abandoned property and convey it to a third party, a developer, to restore the property,鈥 Collins said. 鈥淭he property has to be vacant for a five-year period, and the taxes have to be delinquent, and the property has to be declared derelict or blighted.鈥
Blighted properties could be taxed at a 5% premium, and derelict properties could be taxed at 10% more than the current rate of $1.22 per $100 in assessed value, said Real Estate Valuation Director Kelvin Bratton.
鈥淩eal estate valuation will maintain the list and we will be monitoring and reevaluating it on an ongoing basis,鈥 Bratton said. 鈥淵ou can be removed from classification upon compliance.鈥
The code enforcement division of city planning would work with Bratton鈥檚 office to declare properties as derelict or blighted, with an appeal process for landowners, he said. It鈥檚 a plan in the making, but developed enough that staff approached the city council for feedback.
鈥淲e want to make sure that we are addressing those that are chronically blighted or derelict,鈥 Bratton said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l have the program more defined as we get your blessing.鈥
City Manager Valmarie Turner said it would be a valuable tool. City Attorney Tim Spencer said it would allow creation of a database to track the status of blighted properties.
Councilman Peter Volosin, who is a Realtor, voiced support.
鈥淭his is a huge tool for helping us with affordable housing,鈥 Volosin said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that citizens have wanted, and we have wanted for quite some time.鈥
Councilwoman Evelyn Powers, formerly the city treasurer, said taxpayers often sent her photos of boarded-up properties.
鈥淧eople would say, 鈥業鈥檓 paying my taxes, why do I have to look at this time after time?鈥欌 Powers said.
Mayor Joe Cobb said neighborhoods will be excited about the program.
鈥淎nother big part of this is the safety aspect,鈥 Cobb said. 鈥淭hese properties, when they sit idle, they鈥檙e used for squatting and other things that endanger public safety, potentially.鈥
Nash said the program would also apply to commercial properties.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 another big factor for providing neighborhoods and communities with resources,鈥 Nash said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 very beneficial for the village centers that we鈥檇 like to see more of throughout our city.鈥
It鈥檚 not the only housing opportunity the city council heard about Monday. A stretch of 70-plus lots on Cherry Hill could be used for new housing, said Tom Carr, the vice chair of 色多多 Redevelopment and Housing Authority board.
The housing authority owns a section of the wooded, sloped land across Orange Avenue from Washington Park, online property records show.
鈥淭he housing authority would like to dispose of those properties,鈥 Carr said. 鈥淭hat presents an opportunity to work with the private sector to sell those properties and have attractive, appropriate housing developed on those sites.鈥
New zoning rules enacted by the city council last year could enable a variety of housing types on that property, he said. But it would need to be rezoned by the city council for residential uses.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 an opportunity,鈥 Carr said. 鈥淣ot a problem.鈥
Members of city council said to discuss it with the Gainsboro neighborhood association first.
