“The
redevelopment of vacant and blighted parcels has been a cumbersome, frustrating
and, in many cases unsuccessful, process for municipalities and developers
alike. Pennsylvania’s new land bank legislation could change all that.
Philadelphia, with its own land bank legislation is poised to take advantage of
the state legislation. “

In  news alert to his law firm’s clients and friends, Alfred R. Fuscaldo, a Director in the Gibbons Real Property & Environmental Department, reports:

In October 2012, Governor Tom
Corbett signed into law House Bill No
1682, enabling legislation, which opens
the door for municipalities throughout the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania to establish land banks. Land banks create a vehicle to
return vacant, abandoned or tax delinquent properties back to productive use.
Over 75 municipalities throughout the United States have turned to land banks
as means to battle blight, rebuild neighborhoods and spur economic growth. 

Frequently, multiple agencies within a city,
borough or township hold title to vacant, abandoned or tax delinquent
properties, complicating procedures to deal with those parcels. In sharp
contrast, a land bank serves as the central repository for such
government-owned properties within its boundaries so as to better position them
for redevelopment.

 Once created by a municipality (or multiple
municipalities) by ordinance, land banks are governmental entities. Land banks
are governed by a board of between five and eleven members, at least one of
which must be a non-municipal employed resident of the jurisdiction who is a
member of a recognized civic association in the jurisdiction. Title to the
properties is held in the name of the land bank, and the land bank must make
its inventory of properties available for public review and inspection 

Environmental bills up for vote Monday in NJ Assembly
Good news for those who like surf fishing at the NJ shore
What’s the latest on site remediations in New Jersey?