POTTSTOWN >> Although borough council wasted no time in voting Monday night to move ahead with creating a land bank to try to reduce the number of blighted properties in town, it will be awhile before it’s up and running.
Borough Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. told council that he anticipates needing a lot of input from them before coming up with the final draft for an ordinance.
Most of Pennsylvania’s 14 land banks are either countywide, serve several municipalities joined together, or are at least established in cities much bigger than Pottstown, Garner said.
As a result, writing an effective ordinance for a borough that is just 5 square miles is “going to be interesting,” he said.
Council Vice President Sheryl Miller, never shy about offering input, offered some up right away.
As was explained to council during a presentation last week by attorney Winifred Branton, the 2012 state law that authorizes the creation of land banks calls for the establishment of a board of directors, and of guidelines that govern what kinds of properties are eligible for land banking and the ultimate goals for the final disposition of those properties.
Chief among Miller’s suggestions are that conditions be put on potential developers that properties ultimately end up as owner-occupied homes and not rental units, of which Pottstown has an over-abundance.
Miller also wants assurances that the ordinance will create standards which potential developers have to meet in order to receive the properties.
The idea behind land banks – a quasi-government agency that holds property until the right developer comes along – is not entirely new to Pottstown.
Years ago, Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc. took possession of a number of key downtown properties, including the First Fidelity Bank building on the southwest corner of High and Hanover streets, and several properties in the 100 block of High Street.
Those properties were held, sometimes for a year or more, until a developer who had a vision the PAID board accepted could be identified.
However, Borough Manager Mark Flanders has said he does not envision Pottstown’s land bank being much more than a transfer agent that holds properties for short periods of time.
By coincidence, the same night council voted to create a land bank, it also voted on an example of how long a property can remain in borough hands without one.
By unanimous vote, council finally transferred ownership of 629 Walnut St. to Habitat for Humanity. The nonprofit group will rehabilitate the house for a first-time homeowner.
Flanders said the home was one of three properties the borough obtained in 2011 at a “free and clear” sale of properties taken for non-payment of taxes and fees.
Two other homes, one on King Street and one on Farmington Avenue, were transferred to a company called Lointer Home, which was active rehabilitating residential properties at the time.
Both of those properties were returned to the tax rolls, Flanders said.
But the third remained under borough ownership and was essentially forgotten for several years.
Now, it will become another project for Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County.
Two blocks away, at 420 Walnut St., Habitat recently returned a property to owner-occupied use when KayAnn and Ricardo Thompson moved into the rehabilitated home with her 89-year-old mother and their five children.
The couple invested 400 hours of “sweat equity” working on the house with other volunteers and moved in just before Christmas under a 30-year interest-free mortgage held by Habitat.
The couple also graduated from Habitat Montco’s Almost Home program, equipping families with the knowledge and discipline to manage their finances to achieve stable housing.
The 22 local families who have graduated from Almost Home now have emergency funds, have secured better jobs and collectively, paid off $90,000 in debt, according to a release from Habitat.
The Thompson’s home at 430 Walnut St. was built in 1870 and includes many of its original features, such as the front door and banister, which have been refinished.
“This project is proof that there is demand for restored properties and opportunity to make industrial towns like ours as beautiful as they once were,” Miller said in the release.
“We have many grand homes like this one in Pottstown, built of brick and block and plaster. They just need some love and attention and financial backing,” she said.
Miller told council she would like to see the land bank that is eventually established work with organizations like Habitat, which ensure restored homes remain owner-occupied.
It is the type of restoration she said she hopes can be multiplied with the use of a land bank.
