A land bank plan that could succeed
An editorial from the Detroit Free Press
From the Detroit Free Press, November 16, 2009
State Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, has crafted a bill that would create a local authority for Detroit and Wayne County to redevelop tax-reverted properties.
Given Detroit's enormous, growing problem with abandoned buildings, legislators should be quick to approve the measure.
Michigan law already allows for land banks, which possess some of the powers of redevelopment authorities. And both Detroit and Wayne County have created them. But both lack the powers to deal with the city's staggering vacancy problem.
In addition, a Detroit-Wayne County Redevelopment Authority would require the two jurisdictions to work together to fight blight -- something that might not happen otherwise.
George's proposed authority would assume broader powers than those of local land banks, and it would increase funding by enabling the authority to capture taxes on properties for eight years instead of five. The redevelopment authority could recommend zoning changes to the Detroit City Council, remove infrastructure like sidewalks and gas lines, convert vacant space into urban farmland, create neighborhood enterprise zones and invest in property improvements such as landscaping and lighting. Tax-reverted property would automatically drop into the redevelopment authority's inventory.
Wayne County and Detroit, which both own foreclosed property in the city, already partner in the Port Authority and Stadium Authority. The new redevelopment authority would be an option, not a mandate. If approved by the City Council and County Commission, each would appoint three members to the body, with the governor appointing the seventh.
It's encouraging, too, that this initiative represents a bi-partisan effort. The first two bills of the legislative package have been introduced by George and Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City. With three more bills on the way, George is working with state Sen. Tupac Hunter, D-Detroit; Sen. Gerald Van Woerkom, R-Muskegon; and Rep. Bert Johnson, D-Detroit.
In a city that continues to lose 15,000 people a year, nearly one in five Detroit houses is vacant, and roughly a third of the city's 140 square miles is empty. Detroit has an estimated 78,000 vacant homes -- and that number is expected to reach nearly 100,000 by late next year.
Local government needs all the tools it can muster to reduce blight, consolidate neighborhoods and turn vacant property into productive use. A city-county redevelopment authority could become one of the best.
Posted: 11/16/2009