Magnets for drug users. A blight on neighbors’ property values. Targets for vandals.
Those are among the problems created by Syracuse’s derelict properties, say city officials, neighborhood groups and many of those who live near derelict buildings.
“I can tell you, it’s a disgrace,” said Charles Pierce-El, who lives near abandoned buildings in the city’s South Side.
Pierce-El is among the residents and community activists pushing the city to take a more aggressive stance on the abandoned and derelict buildings in the city’s neighborhoods.
Consider these numbers:
- In a February 2012 inventory, the city had 1,648 vacant buildings, according to the Syracuse Department of Code Enforcement.
- Of those, 258 have deteriorated so badly, it’s unlikely they can be rehabilitated, according to the Department.
- Of the vacant buildings, 35 percent – or 669 – are also so far behind in taxes owed by the owner that the buildings are eligible to be seized by the city and foreclosed.
The majority of these properties are concentrated on the Southern and Western sides of the city. Nearly 14 percent of buildings in Syracuse’s Near Westside and Southwest neighborhoods are vacant, according to the Code Enforcement inventory.
Neighborhood groups and resident organizations have asked the city government to take more steps to revitalize the neighborhoods. Phil Prehn of Syracuse United Neighbors, or SUN Coalition, says the city has contributed to the problem by failing to seize vacant buildings that were delinquent on tax payments until a buyer was readily available.
The city has been hesitant to foreclose, he said, because “It would require assuming liability over vacant homes.” That left neighborhood groups to tackle many of the problems, said Prehn. “We’re left to pick up the pieces.”
The city also has had less help from the federal government in combating urban blight. Funding for Federal Community Development Block Grants, which support projects for low and medium-income housing, have been steadily reduced over the years.
The city of Syracuse received just over $5 million in a Block Grant for the 2012-2013 fiscal year, about $600,000 less than originally budgeted. In 2012, Onondaga County received $4.8 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development after winning some competitive grants.
That money will go towards a number of projects to revitalize homes in Syracuse. Two of them include:
● Low-Interest Loans
A program approved this year by the Onondaga County legislature will allow residents – including some in the city — to borrow small amounts of money at an extremely low interest rate to maintain their homes. The Onondaga County Neighborhood Initiative will offer small loans of up to $10,000 at a 1-percent interest rate for homeowners hoping to pay for repairs and upkeep of their property. Onondaga County has budgeted slightly more than $1 million for the pilot project in this year’s budget.
About 25 percent to 30 percent of the program will be available to city residents, according to Ryan McMahon, R-Syracuse, a former Syracuse common councilor and now chairman of the county legislature.
● The Land Bank
Earlier this year, Syracuse became the site of one of five land banks in New York. A non-profit, semi-governmental entity will begin to seize tax-delinquent properties after they are foreclosed. The land bank will then own the property and look for new owners.
City planners say they will begin the program slowly, targeting 200 properties for foreclosure every three months. Each time, the majority are selected in geographic clusters; about 25 are chosen randomly.
“The idea is that this will encourage property owners to come in and pay early,” said Katelyn Wright, a city planner working with the program.
On Nov. 16, the land bank took its first steps when it sent out the first 200 foreclosure notices to tax-delinquent properties. Wright says those receiving notices are a mix of vacant lots, abandoned houses, and occupied homes.
Of the first properties slated for foreclosure, Wright says she expects between 80 and 100 to actually be foreclosed. The foreclosure process generally takes about six months, she said. Those properties could be transferred to the land bank as soon as May of 2013. Then, Wright said, the land bank will act as an interim landlord, paying for the upkeep of the properties until they are sold.
The land bank program has gained popularity in Flint, Mich., where a land bank has seized more than 10,000 properties over eight years.
(Durrie Lawrence is a senior with double majors in broadcast journalism and international relations.)
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