Thursday night, the city took the first concrete step to provide itself with another valuable tool in efforts to ensure a healthy future community.

City council voted unanimously to approve the introduction of an ordinance to form a land bank.

Land banks can be a vital asset for government bodies to combat blighted, abandoned and tax delinquent properties and return them to productive use.

The City of Butler Land Bank, as the proposed entity is officially to be named, could be a means for revitalization and redevelopment throughout the city. If utilized well a land bank can both help resolve existing issues with vacant and unutilized property and prevent new issues from forming.

In Pennsylvania, land banks have the power to acquire property for a range of uses as determined by members of the entity’s board from demolition to eliminate blight to redevelopment.

It is important to note, land bank do not have any eminent domain power. They cannot condemn a property or designate it as blighted in order to acquire it. What they can do is acquire such properties either through transfer, donation or purchase, including purchase from foreclosure.

What they do with those properties is where land banks can become important to a community. A land bank is designed to acquire properties and ensure their utilization serves greater public goals. While they can acquire property solely to demolish blight or return long-vacated space to constructive use, they truly shine when they shepherd acquired properties toward uses that are part of a larger plan to improve the communities they are a part of.

Mayor Bob Dandoy, an advocate of a land bank, expressed hope the entity’s scope would aid in revitalization efforts downtown, but also extend further, across the entire city.

Additionally, he pitched the idea as one that would be driven by potential developers, rather than just the plans of the land bank board. He said he envisions a system in which developers come to the board and pitch ideas for properties they hope to acquire from it. It would then be up to board members to determine if those ideas fit broader plans for the community as a whole.

If the proposed land bank board, and the boards that follow in their footsteps, can strategically acquire the right properties and put them to the right uses, it can do more than just reduce blight and transition properties from unused to productive.

If handled property a land bank can make real, lasting improvements across the city that benefit all residents.

— JP