The City of Butler is poised to approve a land bank in the near future — the second entity of its type in the county.

Conversations around establishing a land bank have circulated around the city for some time, championed by Mayor Bob Dandoy, but finally came to council during a February meeting. Since then, the initiative seems to have taken off.

On April 23, a finalized ordinance was presented and read before city council without complaint. The second and final reading of the city ordinance to establish the land bank is currently set for council’s next voting meeting on May 28.

Dandoy said the land bank will be set up as an independent entity from the city with its own board, giving it a level of autonomy to tackle problems as it sees fit. With that added level of autonomy, Dandoy envisions the land bank’s board will work closely with city government to improve neighborhoods with specific ideas in mind.

“What we’re able to do is more specifically target areas we want to manage in the city and then try to attain the available properties to move any vision we have for that area forward,” he said.

According to the proposed ordinance, five members have been selected to serve on the inaugural board: Dandoy, Butler Area School District superintendent Brian White, attorney Gerri Paulisick, financial adviser Jeff Geibel and former Center for Community Resources executive director Beth Gillan.

As for a financial plan, Dandoy and city solicitor Tom Breth previously said the bank would require city funds to start, but would aim to become financially self-sufficient.

Dandoy said one of the biggest benefits the land bank could offer over other resources, such as the city’s redevelopment authority, is the ability to be proactive instead of reactive.

“Instead of just sitting back and waiting for something bad and ugly — something to blight itself or to get damaged in a fire or natural disaster — and we say we have to clean it up, we’re looking ahead and saying, ‘This is what we need,’” he said.

For example, he said if the land bank owns a property on Main Street, developers would be able to pitch ideas for businesses to move into that space.

“So we’ll look at those (interested) small businesses and we’ll consider which one is the most impactful for the downtown area. We’re able to then, in some small way, facilitate that happening,” Dandoy said.

He said the city’s land bank will be able to take a more comprehensive look at what’s best for both the property and the neighborhood around it compared with the county land bank.

“We’re not just saying, ‘What will be good for that piece of property or that building?’ We’re saying, ‘What’s good for that area?’” he said.

He made sure to clarify the land bank is not a property grab in the city.

“We want these properties productive and contributing, but also back on tax rolls,” he said.

He said one temporary stopgap that would keep the land bank from becoming a “land grab” is the fact that city council will be bankrolling the purchases they make.

“Council can say they won’t fund it,” he said.

He said he will encourage the bank’s board to be deliberate and conservative in its property decisions.

Dandoy said he hopes to have the land bank operational “within the next several months.”

“We have a lot of big steps to take before we get to there. We have to establish the land bank. We have to get people on the board and we have to get a plan into place before we can really start looking at things,” he said.

He said his ultimate hope is the land bank will be one of the driving forces behind new residents, employees and businesses coming to the city.

But the City of Butler’s land bank would not be the first in the county. Butler County Housing and Redevelopment Authority also operates one.

Ed Mauk, executive director of the authority, said the county land bank started in 2021 with a focus on improving housing opportunities.

“We formed ours with the mindset of trying to basically return real estate to its highest and best use for the county,” Mauk said. “In our world, that’s basically for affordable housing purposes.

“We try to use (the bank) for one of two reasons: either to just recycle the real estate or to hold it for affordable housing production.”

He said there are two different ways land banks can be formed: as an independent entity through an ordinance, like the city’s; or under a redevelopment authority, like the county’s.

“The (county) commissioners designated the Redevelopment Authority as the Butler County land bank. So, that’s how it got formed,” he said.

Mauk said the bank is currently holding about 30 or so properties and has finished its involvement with three or four. He said most of the work other land banks might focus on, such as blight abatement, is handled through the redevelopment authority.

One of the biggest reasons behind establishing a land bank is the ability to preempt fiduciary sales — something the authority’s bank has not yet needed to do.

Other opportunities exist in the future, too, Mauk said, indicating the land bank’s unique powers serve as more tools for property redevelopment throughout the county.

Nick Leturgey, grant manager at the Butler County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, said the land bank has yet to take over any properties in the city. However, the authority has pursued blight abatement efforts within city limits.

“The thing with city properties is they hold more value, so outside developers are more likely to come in and take ownership of that property versus a lot of our properties that are in rural communities,” he said.

While Dandoy envisions the city land bank as a way to guide growth, the authority’s bank primarily focuses on getting properties back onto the municipal and county tax rolls.

Mauk and Leturgey indicated the land bank is at a comfortable place financially to manage itself, but with more funding, larger projects could be tackled.

“Places that have very successful land banks have entities that are funding it, because once you can get it seeded with a lot of money in real estate, it can start producing its own revenue and become more self-sustained,” Mauk explained about the five-year old land bank. “We have not gotten to that level.”