City Council approves long-awaited city land-bank bill

City Council on Thursday unanimously approved the long-awaited land-bank bill, and Mayor Nutter promptly vowed to sign it - clearing the way for Philadelphia to become the largest city in the country with a land bank.

The goal of the bank is to cut through City Hall red tape and create a comprehensive system for confronting blight by turning vacant and tax-delinquent parcels into tax-producing properties.

Thursday's vote was something of a formality, since the tough part of agreeing on the bill's amendments was hashed out last week between its primary sponsor, Councilwoman Maria Quiones Snchez, and Council President Darrell L. Clarke.

The legislation is only the start of what will be a lot of decision-making on how the land bank is to operate.

"It's a huge step forward in addressing vacant property issues in the city," said Rick Sauer, executive director of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations.

The land bank will likely take at least a year to be fully implemented. A budget and a staff need to be approved by next summer, and policies and procedures for how both the staff and the bank's board will operate, along with a strategic plan, will need to be developed and approved by Council.

"Now the ball is in the administration's court to resource and appropriately staff it," Quiones Snchez, who has championed the land-bank idea for five years, said after the bill passed.

Nutter's spokesman, Mark McDonald, said the mayor was committed to funding the land-bank staff and whatever else is required to move the plan forward.

More here:
City Council approves long-awaited city land-bank bill