With blighted and vacant property identified as a major issue for the City of Butler, officials discussed the possibility of establishing a land bank to combat it.

Mayor Bob Dandoy brought the topic up for discussion at a city council meeting on Thursday, Feb. 26, as he said he wanted to introduce the idea at a public session.

“In essence, when we have a situation where there is a piece of property that becomes available, instead of letting the property just sit there and blight itself or just sit there unproductive forever and ever, the city could — not the city will, the city could — move in and obtain the property for the land bank,” he said.

After obtaining a property, the land bank would be able to manage, maintain and possibly even sell it to a developer interested in moving in.

For example, Dandoy said if the land bank owns property along Main Street, prospective businesses can pitch their ideas to the bank before a determination is made on who to sell the property to.

“We can say, ‘no.’ We can say that it’s not what we’re looking for right now, we’re looking for something else to develop the downtown area,” he said.

Dandoy said he’s already found five people that would be willing to serve on the land bank’s inaugural board. He said he would not disclose who until plans are more concrete.

“I think they are an outstanding group of people willing to shepherd this through the first years and get this moving,” he said.

Councilwoman Lisa Quebedeaux asked if Dandoy or the city had already compiled a list of properties the land bank would look to acquire. Dandoy said that would be the responsibility of the bank’s board.

Quebedeaux also asked if the bank would target specific areas of the city or take a wider approach. Dandoy said it would be the board’s decision to make, but would encourage it to look citywide.

“I see this, certainly, impacting the downtown area, but I also see it impacting neighborhoods because we know there are properties within the city that are trouble,” he said.

Councilman Dan Herr asked how funding the land bank would work. Dandoy said to start, it would require city funding. However, the land bank would maintain funds generated from the properties or their sales.

“Ideally, I think the goal would be that eventually the land bank is financially independent,” city solicitor Tom Breth said.

Dandoy said he is still working with Breth to design a plan for the city’s land bank. In the meantime, he told council he plans to have one-on-one conversations with each of them to answer questions and address concerns.