Strategic Assessment of Blight
in Erie County, PA
by the Center for Community Progress
for Corry Industrial Benefit Association
March 2012
STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT OF BLIGHT
ERIE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
I.
Executive Summary
Page 1
II.
Housing and Market Conditions
Page 2
III.
Stakeholder Discussions
Page 2
IV.
Recommendations
Page 3
V.
Conclusion
Page 15
VI.
Appendices
Page 16
Appendix 1: Housing and Market Conditions in Erie County, PA
Appendix 2: Notes from Stakeholder Discussions
Appendix 3: Sample Side Lot Disposition Guidelines
Appendix 4: Capacity Matrix for Erie County Land Bank
Appendix 5: Revenue Model for Erie County Land Bank
Cover Photo Credits
Top Image: Igor Borisenko
Bottom Image: Shawnee Optical
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
I. Executive Summary
In July 2011, the Center for Community Progress (“Community Progress”) was invited by the
Corry Industrial Benefit Association (“CIBA”) to assess and recommend strategies to more
effectively address blighted properties in Erie County, Pennsylvania. While strides have been
made in recent years to return more properties to productive use, there is a sense that blight is
increasing and a more strategic regional strategy needs to be developed to ensure stabilization
and revitalization of the County as a whole.
The Center for Community Progress was formed in January 2010 and builds from the work of
two organizations – the Genesee Institute in Michigan and the National Vacant Properties
Campaign, both of which have demonstrated successful techniques in the reuse of vacant,
abandoned and blighted properties. Over the past few years Community Progress has focused
its efforts on building the capacity of local and state governments across the country to build
systems to prevent, acquire, manage and repurpose those properties that are considered
negative influences on a community.
Community Progress initiated this work in Erie County in September 2011 and focused on three
major components: 1) developing a market assessment comprised of local market conditions,
demographic information as well as an evaluation of blight risk throughout Erie County; 2)
collecting information from a series of in-person stakeholder meetings with various public,
private and nonprofit stakeholders and 3) developing recommendations for systems that will
more effectively address blighted properties throughout the County. This work was led by Kim
Graziani, Vice President of Capacity Building, with assistance from Alan Mallach, Senior Fellow,
and Michael Freeman, Program Director of Capacity Building.
Erie County, as a whole, has maintained relatively stable housing and demographic conditions,
given gradual long-term population decline within both Cities of Erie and Corry and slow growth
in the balance of the County. In the market assessment, a composite measure was created to
evaluate the level of blight risk by census tract based on a series of variables. This blight risk
assessment is intended to identify those properties in the tract that will most likely become
problems, either by absentee ownership, vacancy or abandonment. Although we found the
overall level of blight risk throughout the County to be, for the most part, low; there are
concentrations of vacant and blighted units in some parts of the Cities of Erie and Corry, and
scattered around the County’s rural areas as well. Blight and market conditions are not
consistent throughout the County therefore strategies should be customized to address local
conditions.
This report will provide a range of recommendations for Erie County, its local units of
government and its partners to consider for implementation. We believe this is a prime
opportunity to develop systems and expand tools, partnerships and strategies to target blight
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
elimination activities to improve the quality of life and market conditions for communities
throughout the County.
II. Housing and Market Conditions
Alan Mallach completed an assessment of current housing and market conditions throughout
Erie County, in order to better understand recent trends and introduce a composite measure
that evaluates the level of blight risk by census tract (see Appendix 1). The blight risk index can
be used to identify the likelihood that properties will become problems by irresponsible
ownership, vacancy and abandonment and was measured using the following eight variables: 1)
percent of single-family units in absentee ownership; 2) change in owner occupancy from 20002010; 3) change in dwelling units from 2000-2010; 4) 90+ day vacancy rate for 2010 from
United States Postal Service; 5) sales ratio average from 2008-2010; 6) mortgage ratio for 2010;
7) median sales price for 2010 and 8) change in median sales price from 2007-2010.
Overall, the level of blight risk throughout the County is low, which is not to suggest that blight
does not exist. However, it does suggest that there are specific census tracts, particularly in the
Cities of Corry and Erie that have the greatest concentrations of blight and weak market
conditions that are characterized by high vacancies, nuisance and code compliance issues, low
homeownership, low property values and weak market demand. In these areas that are
considered high risk, interventions should be customized that are aggressive and
comprehensive in targeting and scale. Equally important are those areas that are at greater risk
for future blight and should therefore be targeted for strategic stabilization and prevention
strategies. Even those areas considered low risk should not be disregarded but rather
monitored to ensure that any potentially destabilizing factors are identified and dealt with
swiftly. In our recommendations section, more detail will be provided about matching
strategies to blight risk and local market conditions.
III. Stakeholder Discussions
Erie County has a committed group of public, private and nonprofit stakeholders that have
recognized blight elimination as a priority. Kim Graziani and Michael Freeman met with three of
these stakeholder groups to establish a common definition of blight, identify the problems
associated with blight, develop preliminary goals and strategies and inventory available
resources. Stakeholders included: 1) the Erie Coalition of Housing Organizations (“ECHO”), 2)
Erie County officials and 3) Corry Neighborhood Initiative (“CNI”).
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
Establishing Common Ground
What is blight?
There was unanimous agreement among the three stakeholder groups that blight was
one of the most significant issues facing Erie County; however, the exact definition of
blight varied amongst stakeholders. The definition that can most easily be summarized
is “anything that brings down property values in a community” (see Appendix 2). Blight
can take many forms: an abandoned owner-occupied home, an overgrown lot, a poorly
managed rental unit or empty storefront, to name a few. Our approach to the blight risk
index was to take into account the stakeholder definition, as well as causal factors of
blight that have been documented in various market areas across the country.
The Goal for Blight Elimination
In our discussions there were different goals for blight elimination, although all
suggestions were complimentary and deemed integral to a fully-functioning system (see
Appendix 2). Goals varied from establishing a land bank to acquire and repurpose
“problem” properties to developing a regional code enforcement system. Inherent
throughout the discussions were reoccurring themes that are worth mentioning: 1)
there must be a reduction in costs and other negative effects inherent to blight; 2) a
centralized or regional mechanism is needed to report and respond to blight throughout
the County; 3) leadership is critical to accomplishing any goal, both at the political and
community level; 4) there is no one-size-fits-all strategy and 5) it is important to build
off of current assets. It is apparent that all stakeholders share a pride for their
respective community, are willing to work together and feel a sense of urgency in
ending the contagious and negative effects of blight.
These discussions confirmed the need to establish common language and goals for
blight elimination which should be clearly articulated in a comprehensive and
coordinated blighted property action plan. This will also be described further in our
recommendations section.
IV. Recommendations
Based on the three components of our work, this section describes recommendations to more
effectively address blighted properties in Erie County. Our recommendations are guided by a
few key principles:
1. Understand your inventory. It is essential to have parcel-level data on properties that are
considered a blighting influence to the community.
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
2. Prevent blight before it becomes contagious. The strategic identification of blight (both
current and potential) and resulting deployment of code enforcement and other
resources is an effective mechanism to prevent blight and stabilize market conditions.
Equally important in preventing blight is an effective tax collection and foreclosure
system.
3. Build off of local market strengths. Investments should be made to catalyze market
opportunities and prevent additional blighting influences.
4. Fully utilize existing capacity, tools and resources. It is important to assess your current
capacity and retool existing policies, programs and initiatives. It is also critical to take
advantage of new state legislation and to develop new, potentially uniform, local
ordinances to achieve your outcome.
5. Target resources. Local governments are saddled with increasing fiscal insolvency and
demand for services, therefore resources must be targeted based on hard data and
community involvement to achieve the greatest outcomes.
6. Coordinate planning with outcomes and existing revitalization projects and strategies.
Eliminating and preventing blight is a complicated and multi-faceted process that needs
to be guided by a plan that is transparent with realistic short-, mid- and long-term
outcomes. Blight elimination should also be coordinated with other revitalization efforts
such as housing, economic development, infrastructure investments and open space.
Erie County has an opportunity to build on the momentum of its stakeholders and planning
efforts and create a system that is guided by data, markets, capacity, strategy, planning,
community engagement and outcomes.
RECOMMENDATION 1: Develop a Property Information System
Understanding the inventory of blighted properties is essential to the development of any
blight elimination strategy. Critical to this endeavor is establishing a baseline of conditions
related to blighted properties. Currently, information on the condition, value and ownership of
real property is collected by a myriad of City, County and other municipal offices. Key
individuals from Erie County, as well as CIBA, spent hours collecting various data sets for the
purpose of this report. This data can begin to serve as a foundation to create this baseline of
data.1 Local universities could also prove an essential partner in developing a more robust and
unified system of collecting data.
1
Special thanks to Agnes Reynolds of the Erie County Redevelopment Authority who coordinated data requests for
various County and City offices.
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
Policymakers, planners, developers and others engaged in property transactions need to be
able to assemble and map reliable real property information if they are able to make decisions
and commitments. Furthermore, it is critical to have decision makers understand what is
happening in the community by having accurate data on the number of blighted properties,
where they are located, what costs are incurred by having to deal with them and the extent to
which they diminish property values and destabilize neighborhoods. We recommend the
following:
•
Build capacity (staff and expertise) within City, County and other local units of
government to better maintain and update its parcel-based property data, with
particular attention to vacant and publicly-owned properties. Once a system has
been designed, the capacity must be put in place to maintain and update it, and see
that decision makers and practitioners can access information when they need it.
The system can be made available in a format that is GIS-based, online and
interactive. If confidentiality issues for data are a concern, the system could be made
available at two levels, one public and one password-protected.
•
The system should include an early-warning capacity for properties in areas that
have higher blight risk levels and problem properties in other areas across the
County. Properties at risk of disinvestment or abandonment should be tracked to
focus outreach and intervention efforts, both to prevent blight and abandonment
and speed the process of enforcement or gaining control of properties. An earlywarning system could flag situations like recurring code violations and criminal
complaints and/or utility shut-offs or payment defaults.
Recommended Next Steps:
• Convene a meeting with City, County (particularly the Planning Department and GIS
staff) and other relevant municipal departments to discuss the value of having one
system to access real-time parcel-level data. Do not be afraid to start small and
begin to think about a minimum baseline of information and then determine which
departments are responsible for collecting that data. Once there is agreement
within the public sector, you should consider connecting with a local university
partner to determine their ability to assist with the development of this system.
Examples from other cities:
• Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing:
http://neocando.case.edu/cando/index.jsp
• Pittsburgh Neighborhood Community Information System:
http://www.ucsur.pitt.edu/pncis.php
Funding options:
• In-kind staff and technical support from university and public sector
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
•
•
Philanthropic support
User fees
The table below provides some additional information on basic elements of a property
information system.
TABLE 1: BASIC ELEMENTS OF A PROPERTY INFORMATION SYSTEM 2
Category
Key Information
Data Source
Basic Property Information
Tax status
Mortgages, other liens and
foreclosure filings
Conveyances
Building/Housing/Code
Enforcement
Vacancy and abandonment
Crime and Fire
Redevelopment or other
formally-designated districts
-Basic property characteristics
(lot and building size, number
of units, year built, land use)
-Ownership
-Assessed value
-Tax arrears
-Tax liens
-Tax exemptions
-Mortgage and tax
foreclosure filings
-Lien amount and status
-Sheriff’s sales
-Property Transfers (date,
sales price, buyer and seller,
type of deed, history of
transfers, nature of mortgage
financing, if any)
-Building Permits
-Complaints
-Citations
-Condemnations
-Nuisance abatement actions
taken by type
-Receivership status
-Utility shut-offs
-Mail stops and forwarding
-Visual evidence of neglect
-Crime and fire reports at
specific addresses and by
block
-Development priority areas
-City and County property records
-Auditor, Treasurer or Assessor
-Auditor, Treasurer or Assessor
-Tax Claim
-Sheriff
-Auditor, Treasurer or Assessor
-Tax Claim
-Auditor, Treasurer or Assessor
-Building, Housing and Code
Enforcement Departments
-Public utilities
-US Postal Service
-Surveys or citizen reports
-Police Departments
-Fire Departments
-City/County planning and
economic development
-CDCs and other nonprofits
2
Modeled after a similar table created in the 2005 report, Cleveland at the Crossroads: Turning Abandonment Into
Opportunity by the National Vacant Properties Campaign:
http://preview.usmayors.org/brownfields/library/cleveland0605.pdf
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
RECOMMENDATION 2: Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the property regulatory
systems in the County.
a. Design and implement an initial code enforcement strategy around strategic
community development and local priorities.
b. Establish and/or enforce a residential rental registration program in the Cities of
Corry and Erie.
Conduct a comprehensive assessment of property regulatory systems and resources in the
County.
There was great interest from stakeholders around the idea of a regional or county-wide code
enforcement system. In order to move forward, there needs to be a more comprehensive
assessment of the property regulatory systems including existing code enforcement
mechanisms throughout the County, current available resources, political will to partner, as
well as a process mapping exercise of how various localities work to determine opportunities
for consolidation and efficiency.
One important factor to consider throughout any such assessment is how to transform the
existing complaint-dependent and reactive enforcement program to a system that equitably
and strategically targets non-compliant properties. Another important factor to consider in this
comprehensive assessment is a cost-benefit analysis of current revenue derived from
operations versus the current operational costs to ensure full cost recovery in assessing
penalties and fines for non-compliance. Finally, as recommended in the Erie County Housing
Plan adopted in October 2008 3, there should be consideration of the benefits in establishing an
adjudicative hearings process through creation of a Housing Court (or Environmental Court as
they’re known in some jurisdictions) to facilitate the efficient, effective and consistent
enforcement of housing codes.
The table on the following page provides some examples of basic elements of a comprehensive
assessment of property regulatory systems in Erie County.
3
The Erie County Housing Plan:
http://www.eriecountyplanning.org/uploads///pdf/Plansandcont/Erie%20County%20Housing%20Plan%20Oct200
8.pdf
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
TABLE 2: BASIC ELEMENTS OF A COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT OF PROPERTY REGULATORY
SYSTEMS 4
Element
Action
Code Evaluation
Staff and Organizational Evaluation
Process Mapping
Policy and Procedure Evaluation/Development
Case Management/Tracking Overview
Process Decision Tree Evaluation/Development
Full Cost Recovery Ability Assessment
Fine/Penalty Assessment Evaluation
Review and provide recommendations for
reconciliation, amendments, additions and
streamlining as needed.
Review experience and talents needed for
support, line and supervisory staff positions.
Review and map current process(es) with time of
task and provide recommendations for
improvement and efficiency as needed.
Review how written policies and procedures
evaluate against current practices and code
requirements.
Review and evaluate systems and policies in place
and evaluate for any inefficiencies or
redundancies, unneeded “downtime” or “black
holes”.
Review various enforcement and abatement
remedies available and draft decision trees to
assist line staff and supervisors to maintain more
consistent enforcement throughout the
jurisdiction.
Evaluate need for tracking and recovery of staff
time expended in the enforcement of various
codes on individual properties.
Review current fine and penalty ability and
schedules and evaluate to determine if current
ability and use are appropriate/adequate.
Recordation/Lien/Assessment Evaluation
Review current ability to “cloud title” and
enforce/recover fines and penalties incurred on
violating non-compliant properties.
Fine/Lien Waiver/Reduction Ability Assessment
and Compliance Agreement Program
Development/Implementation.
Review current ability/process under which fines
and penalties may be waived/reduced to
encourage property transfers and compliance.
Review Compliance Agreement Program/Policy to
waive/reduce liens/penalties AFTER compliance is
obtained from new owner.
4
This is modeled on the code enforcement work that Community Progress has completed in multiple
communities.
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
2a. Design and implement a code enforcement strategy around strategic neighborhood
revitalization and local priorities.
While maintaining the capacity to respond to enforcement complaints, we recommend that
County and other local government officials adopt strategic neighborhood-based programs and
tools since code enforcement efforts operate well on a neighborhood scale. Given limited
resources, communities should adopt a menu of neighborhood approaches to regional
deployment of code enforcement resources. Working with groups like ECHO, the County could
devise a blighted properties action plan that could more efficiently target its limited
enforcement and inspection resources based on neighborhood market conditions. The action
plan should include in-depth inspection protocols and remedy-selection policies that could
enhance the consistency of code enforcement and the overall accountability and credibility of
the code enforcement system. The new property information system could also assist in
targeting enforcement actions, recommending and directing rehabilitation resources and
focusing blight prevention efforts.
There is also an opportunity to include community residents and nonprofit organizations in
code enforcement efforts and allow them to be proactive in identifying and addressing
potential code enforcement infractions. Community stakeholders can provide insight, given
their potential relationships with the homeowner or tenant, and determine whether assistance
from human service and/or other supportive services in the area is needed. One avenue to
consider would be to build off of the existing Erie Citizens City Planning Academy model and
develop a training that would be available to residents across the County to learn more about
housing codes and violations, how to identify violations from the public right-of-way, reporting
violations and verifying information with the Building and Code Enforcement Departments and
following up on violations to determine code compliance.
2b. Establish and/or enforce the residential rental registration licensing program in the Cities of
Corry and Erie.
The increase in substandard rental housing in both Cities of Corry and Erie have been identified
as one of the major causes of blight as reflected in the market assessment, Erie County Housing
Plan and the Corry 2020 Plan 5. Therefore we recommend establishing a rental registration
licensing program in the City of Corry which would allow property owners to be tracked in case
of emergencies, code violations, or other emerging issues and put the owner on notice if there
is non-compliance. The program can be modeled after the City of Erie’s Residential Rental
Registration Program 6.
5
The Corry 2020 Plan: Corry 2020 Plan: http://www.corrypa.com/corry2020/index.html
City of Erie Residential Rental Registration Program:
http://www.erie.pa.us/Departments/CodeEnforcement/ResidentialRentalRegistration/tabid/295/Default.aspx
6
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
In discussions with stakeholders, there were mixed responses on the level of enforcement and
outcomes of the Residential Rental Registration Program in the City of Erie, therefore we
recommend a closer examination of the following: 1) challenges of the program; 2) costs to
administer the program; 3) limits of the enforcement capacity and how landlords can be
motivated to comply within shorter periods; 4) rewarding good land lords; 5) consistent
enforcement of the program and 5) a proactive strategy of finding properties that are in
noncompliance of this program in areas that have been designated as high blight risk and
moderate blight risk levels 7.
Recommended Next Steps:
• Schedule a call with key Erie County stakeholders and Nicole Heyman of Community
Progress, our code enforcement expert, on the major components of a property
regulatory systems assessment.
• Convene meetings with code enforcement staff and District Magistrates throughout the
County to discuss the feasibility of developing a regional strategy that responds to local
needs.
• Develop a “Code Enforcement Academy” for County residents and landlords.
• Convene a meeting with the Cities of Corry and Erie to discuss the status of the
Residential Rental Registration Program and share lessons learned and outcomes.
Examples from other cities:
• New Orleans:
http://www.communityprogress.net/filebin/pdf/Annual_Blight_Strategy_Report_-_Dec29-2011.pdf
• Brooklyn Center, Minnesota:
http://www.ci.brooklyn-center.mn.us/index.aspx?NID=237
http://www.ci.brooklyn-center.mn.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=118
• Shelby County, Tennessee:
http://environmentalcourt.shelbycountytn.gov/
• City of Cleveland Code Enforcement Partnership:
http://www.communityprogress.net/filebin/pdf/CLE_CE_Partnership.pdf
Funding:
• Earned revenue from nuisance abatement liens
• Gaming revenue
• Community Development Block Grant funds
• Erie Community Foundation (currently funding the Erie Residents Planning Academy)
7
For more information on incentives for landlords, please refer to the 2010 Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s
report entitled Meeting the Challenge of Problem Property Investors in America’s Neighborhoods by Alan Mallach:
http://www.lisc.org/docs/publications/102010_Distressed_Property_Investors.pdf
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
RECOMMENDATION 3: Design, develop and retool existing strategies, programs and
initiatives based on blight risk and market conditions.
Since the levels of blight risk and market conditions differ throughout the County, so should the
strategies. In areas that have higher concentrations of blighted and abandoned properties and
weak market conditions, there needs to be a more comprehensive approach that focuses on
rental housing code compliance, as well as reuse strategies such as side lots, parks, and gardens
and the focused/continued demolition of substandard structures. Those areas that are at risk of
future blight should focus on strategies to stabilize and build stronger market conditions
through homeownership. Targeting strategies and identifying priority areas for code
enforcement, development and other revitalization activities were also recommended in the
Erie County Housing Plan and Corry 2020 Plan.
The table below provides some preliminary recommendations for targeted strategies based on
blight risk and local market conditions.
TABLE 3: TARGETED STRATEGIES BASED ON BLIGHT RISK AND MARKET CONDITIONS8
Blight Risk Level
Characteristics
Strategy
High - Very high
-Low house prices
-Weak market demand
-Excessive absentee
ownership
-Vacancy and abandonment
Moderate
-Largely healthy markets
where one or more risk
factors may lead to
destabilization
Low
-Largely healthy markets with
no visible risk factors present.
-Strategic and aggressive code
enforcement, nuisance abatement
and regulatory/licensing programs
-Explore non-development uses such
as community gardens and side
lots*.
-Continued demolition of
substandard vacant structures
- Create large-scale market-changing
or transformative redevelopment
projects
- Strategic and aggressive code
enforcement, nuisance abatement
and regulatory/licensing programs
-Targeted redevelopment of
scattered vacant or problem
properties
-Incentivize homeownership through
marketing, mortgage assistance and
homeowner repair programs
- Strategic and aggressive code
enforcement, nuisance abatement
and regulatory/licensing programs
* Sample side lot disposition policies and procedures are included in Appendix 3.
8
Modeled after a table in Managing Neighborhood Change: A Framework for Sustainable and Equitable
Revitalization by Alan Mallach.
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
RECOMMENDATION 4: Explore the implementation of newer tools such as the Blighted and
Abandoned Property Conservatorship Law and the Neighborhood Blight Reclamation and
Revitalization Act.
Pennsylvania has recently passed legislation that provides new tools to prevent and eliminate
blight 9. In particular, the Blighted and Abandoned Property Conservatorship Law allows a courtappointed third party (municipality, nonprofit organization, redevelopment authority or
resident within 500 feet) to take control of a blighted property when the owner has died or
refuses to act. After due process is given to the owner and lienholders, the conservator is given
the right to take possession of the property to bring it up to code, implement a rehabilitation
plan that is court approved or potentially demolish the structure. If the owner does not redeem
the property, the court has the option of approving the sale of the property free and clear of
any debt.
Another important piece of legislation is the Neighborhood Blight Reclamation and
Revitalization Act (“NBRRA”) which provides more options against property owners with code
violations. Three particular components are worth mentioning: 1) allows municipalities to
collect costs related to code violations by filing judgments against the property owners, not just
the liens against the properties; 2) allows municipalities the option of extraditing those
property owners with municipal code violations who reside outside of Pennsylvania and 3)
allows municipalities the ability to deny permits and licenses to property owners with code
violations and tax delinquencies.
Recommended next steps:
• Convene a meeting with the Erie County Court Administrator or other court official to
discuss the process and implications of the Conservatorship Law.
• Convene a meeting with ECHO to determine whether there are specific property owners
that would be ideal candidates to target for NBRRA.
• Continue working with the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania on education, advocacy and
implementation of these and other tools to deter blight.
Example of conservatorship model in Pennsylvania:
• Butler County: http://www.housingalliancepa.org/resources/224
Funding:
• Conservators can get financing for their court-approved plan, the court can approve a
new first mortgage with priority over other liens against the property except
governmental liens.
9
For more information please refer to the 2011 Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania’s report Quick Guide: New Tools
to Fight Blight and Abandonment:
http://www.housingalliancepa.org/sites/default/files/resources/New%20Tools%20Quick%20Guide%20FINAL%20F
eb%202011.pdf
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
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•
NBRRA also has built-in financing mechanisms that would allow a municipality the ability
to recover costs related to code violations and filing judgments.
RECOMMENDATION 5: Increase the acquisition and redevelopment of blighted property,
particularly with regard to land banking and tax reform.
Community Progress has been working with members of the Pennsylvania legislature on two
pieces of legislation that focus on the creation of land banks and reform of property tax
foreclosure. Many of our discussions with stakeholders focused on the need to get free and
clear title to properties quicker with the ability to have a regional land banking mechanism to
acquire, manage, and redevelop these properties.
Land Banking
Land banking has proven to be an effective tool to acquire, manage, and redevelop tax
delinquent and abandoned properties. As of February 2012, HB 1682, the Pennsylvania Land
Bank Act, was approved in the House and has been introduced in the Senate. Erie County is
therefore in a prime position to begin to assess the benefits of a land bank that could serve a
more regional strategy for blight elimination. Some critical elements to consider is the current
inventory of tax foreclosed, vacant, and abandoned properties, and how a land bank would
provide a more efficient and strategic pathway for these properties to return to productive use.
Secondly, we would recommend assessing what the major functions of the land bank would be
(based on local needs and priorities that exist) and whether there is capacity to carry out those
functions. Finally, a revenue modeling exercise should be completed that estimates the
potential revenues generated by and for a land bank entity. By creating a land bank entity, and
by restructuring the tax sale and tax foreclosure process in a way to maximize public sector
revenues, a community can create distinct revenue sources flowing from the tax foreclosure
process.
Tax Reform
Improving the current tax foreclosure process is central to preventing and eliminating blight. As
of February 2012, there is a draft bill, HB 1782, that is intended to reform Pennsylvania’s
current tax collection and foreclosure system. This bill will consolidate the numerous tax
statutes and decrease the time between tax delinquency and foreclosure while expediting the
conveyance of properties to the municipality with free and clear title. Another key
characteristic of this bill is the prevention of bulk tax lien sales to private third parties, which
will allow the County and its stakeholders more control over what happens to these properties,
especially those that are in targeted redevelopment areas and/or in higher blight risk areas.
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
Community Progress is continuing to work with legislators in the House and Senate on both of
these bills. Unlike the Pennsylvania Land Bank Act, which has a good chance of becoming law
this year, the tax reform bill may take a while.
Recommended next steps:
• Conduct a deeper assessment of the step-by-step procedures for property acquisition to
identify “log-jams” and impediments.
• Develop a set of priorities to guide property acquisition and land assembly activities.
• Evaluate inventory, capacity and revenue to create a land bank that could serve a more
regional strategy for blight elimination (see Appendix 4 for the Capacity Matrix and
Appendix 5 for the Revenue Model).
Funding:
• Revenue from redemption of properties from tax foreclosure, including penalties and
interest, less borrowing and collection costs
• Revenues from sale of properties not redeemed
• Tax revenues from putting properties back on the tax rolls
• Philanthropic and public sector grant support
RECOMMENDATION 6: Build a comprehensive and coordinated blighted property action plan.
It is important to continue to build public awareness of severity and economic and social costs
of blighted properties in Erie County. We recommend engaging in a community-wide campaign
to focus attention on the need to making blighted property revitalization a priority for all
residents. ECHO, along with public leaders and stakeholders, should mobilize support for
developing an aggressive strategy to deal with blighted properties, beginning with an in-depth
analysis of the social and economic costs that blighted properties present throughout the
County. One of the goals of this campaign should be the development of a coordinated and
comprehensive blighted property action plan. The plan should engage public, private and
nonprofit stakeholders; and establish goals, strategies and outcomes that build off of existing
assets and capacity.
ECHO should continue convening to act as a catalyst for change and track challenges, progress,
and success. ECHO provides a forum for those directly engaged with this issue to come together
on a regular basis and share information, provide support on the institutional and policy
changes being proposed and track progress in implementing changes. At the same time, smaller
working groups should be created around specific priority elements of strategy, such as
developing the property information system and retooling current programs to better target
market conditions and those areas that are at the various blight risk levels.
Akin to ECHO, we would also recommend the creation of a working group with City, County and
municipal government representatives to foster interdepartmental cooperation, priority
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
setting, and coordination of county-wide activities and resources to implement the blighted
property action plan. Integral to the discussion at the ECHO and public sector tables will be
connecting decisions and resources related to regulation and revitalization to the blight
strategy.
Recommended next steps:
• Convene meetings with ECHO and government stakeholders to develop a strategy for
this action plan.
Funding:
• In-kind staff time from ECHO and public sector
• Philanthropic support
V. Conclusion
This report contains several recommendations with individual and regional benefit and value,
which will only be effective if carried out as part of a coordinated and comprehensive strategy
in which all of the key participants – City and County departments agencies, CDCs,
intermediaries, lenders and others – are at the table, working together to pursue common
goals and objectives. Currently ECHO is serving as the convener for these discussions and we
encourage this forum to continue as you begin to take action.
This assessment can serve as the catalyst for change by challenging outmoded assumptions and
rethinking existing approaches. The next important step is to translate the ideas in this
assessment report into an action plan, with associated evaluation mechanisms. The ultimate
responsibility for action rests on the shoulders of the County’s leaders, policy makers,
businesses, civic and nonprofit groups, and citizens. Ideally, these stakeholders will come
together, review this document, revise and adopt it, and devise priorities and action steps in
collaboration with one another. They will need to think strategically about ways to use this
report to generate momentum and build consensus among an array of parties. With effective
leadership and broad cooperation around specific activities – such as building a property
information system, supporting a platform for creating new local and regional ordinances, state
law reform, and matching tools with local conditions – a coordinating strategy will emerge. This
strategy should always be coordinated with other revitalization efforts such as housing,
economic development, infrastructure investments and open space.
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Strategic Assessment of Blight
Erie County, Pennsylvania
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Housing and Market Conditions in Erie County, PA
Appendix 2: Notes from Stakeholder Discussions
Appendix 3: Sample Side Lot Disposition Guidelines
Appendix 4: Capacity Matrix for Erie County Land Bank
Appendix 5: Revenue Model for Erie County Land Bank
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