Detroit-county authority could rebuild area
State Sen. Tom George in the Detroit News
From The Detroit News, January 28, 2010
Following Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority played a major role in rebuilding the devastated city. The authority has broad powers to purchase, develop, expropriate and sell property to carry out community improvement projects and eliminate blight. Other cities including New York, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Boston and Pittsburgh have all used redevelopment authorities at various times to foster growth and reconstruction.
Now, Detroit and Wayne County should work at do the same.
Michigan law gives counties and Detroit the option of creating land bank authorities that have some of the powers of redevelopment authorities. Genesee County's land bank has been particularly noted for its success in finding new uses for tax-reverted properties.
Wayne County and more recently Detroit have each created land banks for the disposition of tax reverted properties. Since the original land bank fast track legislation was enacted in 2003, however, the scope of the problems faced in Wayne County and Detroit have increased dramatically.
Due to the massive number of abandoned properties, brownfields and vacant parcels that both jurisdictions now contain, the state should offer Detroit and Wayne County the option of jointly forming a redevelopment authority with broader powers and funding potential than the existing land banks currently have.
Additional powers might include the ability to participate in Neighborhood Enterprise Zones, to offer relocation assistance, to convert vacant space into urban farmland, to modify existing zoning ordinances, and to invest in infrastructure improvements such as landscaping, lighting, and sidewalks.
Funding can be increased by allowing the authority to capture more of the tax revenue generated from putting properties back on the tax roles, or to lengthen the period of tax capture beyond the five years currently allowed for land banks.
These proposals are part of a bipartisan, five-bill package that I have introduced with several of my Senate colleagues.
Demolishing abandoned buildings, consolidating vacant parcels, building affordable housing, creating green space, facilitating farming, and luring new development are all means of eliminating blight and are necessary to turn Michigan around. A unified redevelopment authority given broad powers and funding would be a powerful rebuilding tool for Wayne County and Detroit.
Posted: 1/28/2010