land banks and smart growth · and brownfield properties in michigan—the creation of land banks...

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Issue Number 10: Land banking

It is impossible to imagine a smart growthstrategy that does not include a significantcommitment to policies that unlock the valueof forgotten urban land. The Michigan LandUse Leadership Council (MLULC) recognizedthis, and as part of recommendations forurban revitalization, encouraged the state, inconcert with local government, to adopt LandBank Fast Track Authorities to assist in theassembly of land needed for redevelopment.In December 2003, as one of the firstrecommendations from Michigan’s Land,Michigan’s Future: Final Report of theMichigan Land Use Leadership Council tobecome law, a six-bill package was passedwhich allows for expedited private redevelop-ment projects on abandoned, tax-reverted,and brownfield properties in Michigan—thecreation of land banks in Michigan.

This issue of Smart Growth Tactics will coverthe history and benefits of land banking, asummary of the 2003 land bank legislation,and an in-depth look at Genesee County’slead in applying the economic tools createdunder the new land bank legislation.

Due to the generous financial support of theGenesee Institute, this 10th installment ofSmart Growth Tactics is being sent to thehighest elected official and planningcommission chair in every municipality in thestate, as well as the MSP membership. Toensure that Smart Growth Tactics and theMichigan Planner are received by yourmunicipality every month, contact theSociety at (734) 913-2000 or visit our Website at www.planningmi.org for amembership application.

With thanks to Governor JenniferGranholm, the Michigan Legislature, and thehelp of the Michigan Land Use LeadershipCouncil (MLULC), Michigan now has anew state law that allows the creation ofland banks.

A land bank is a public authority created toefficiently hold, manage, and develop tax-foreclosed property. By using the legal tools aland bank provides, a community can ensurethat tax-foreclosed property is sold ordeveloped with the long-term interest of thecommunity and the surrounding property

owners in mind. Without a land bank, tax-foreclosed property is sold to the highestbidder, with no ability for the communityto determine for itself the best use ofthe land.

While land banks are generally associatedwith older urban communities withsignificant volumes of abandoned urbanland, land bank tools are potentially just asuseful for counties seeking to safeguard theirneighborhoods from decline, and for smallercommunities seeking to protect land frompassing through the slow process of decline

The Genesee County Land Bank’s Clean and Green program supports neighborhood effortsto convert vacant land into gardens and green spaces.

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M I C H I G A N S O C I E T Y O F P L A N N I N G — M A K I N G G R E A T P L A C E S H A P P E N

Land banking - Michigan’s neweconomic growth tool

Land banks andsmart growth

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has even more available resources inreturning land to productive use.

The nation’s firstland bankThe first significant effort to reform policyrelated to the treatment of urban landoccurred in 1976. An Ohio state statute waspassed allowing any Ohio municipality toestablish a Land Reutilization Program (or aland bank) for the purposes of acquiring,managing, and disposing of delinquent landin which to reinstate such properties to thetax base. In 1988, an Ohio House Bill wasapproved to enhance the existing landacquisition legislation with provisions toexpedite the foreclosure process andauthorize the tax abatement of land bankproperties. To date, no other community inOhio has embraced this legislation quitelike Cleveland. The Cleveland Land Bankeffort, called Government Action on UrbanLand, opened the eyes of urban plannersand developers as the “mistake on the lake”became an urban redevelopmentsuccess story.

A major component of Cleveland’srenaissance was the commitment toassembling and rekindling the value ofthousands of vacant and abandonedproperties. The Cleveland Land Bank was amodel program as new housing andcommercial development made Cleveland adestination rather than a punch line. It wasrecognized in 1994 by the HarvardUniversity Kennedy School of Governmentas one of the most innovative governmentprograms in the country.

Other cities have used land banks toassemble tax-foreclosed land and return it toproductive use. Atlanta, Georgia, and St.Louis, Missouri, have also operatedsuccessful land banks for many years, and ineach community the land bank is usedprimarily as a mechanism to redevelop tax-foreclosed property with complicatedtitle histories.

Historically land banks were createdprimarily as single-purpose land-holdingentities, used to clear old tax liens and

The six bill package (passed in December2003) collectively authorizes authorities toengage in a variety of activities related toreal and personal property, the main focusbeing tax-reverted properties.

House Bill 4480 amends the BrownfieldRedevelopment Financing Act (MCL125.2652) to include: assistance to a landbank fast track authority among eligibleactivities authorized by the Act; taxreverted property held by an authority aseligible property; and the use of taxincrement revenues for assistanceattributable to authority property.

House Bill 4481 amends the GeneralProperty Tax Act (MCL 211.1 et al) toexempt taxes from property owned by aland bank fast track authority and createsa five-year tax exemption for property soldor otherwise conveyed by an authority.

House Bill 4482 creates the “TaxReverted Clean Title Act” to impose aspecific tax (equal to the property tax) onproperty sold by a land bank fast trackauthority, and dedicates 50 percent of theproceeds to the authority that sold theproperty.

House Bill 4483 enacts the Land BankFast Track Act to do the following:

• Creates a new state land bankauthority and provides for the creationof county and local land bank fast trackauthorities;

• Establishes procedures for anexpedited quiet title and foreclosureprocess by an authority;

• Allows an authority to acquire, buy,own, lease as lessor, convey, demolish,

or rehabilitate real or personal property;• Authorizes an authority to issue notes

and bonds;• Allows a county or qualified city that

formed an authority to make a limited taxpledge to support its bonds or notes or,with voter approval, an unlimited tax fullfaith and credit pledge;

• Creates the Land Bank Fast TrackAuthority Fund;

• Requires the State Administrative Boardto convey specific parcels of surplusstate land to the State Authority; and

• Repeals the Tax Reverted PropertyEmergency Disposal Act.

House Bill 4484 amends the GeneralProperty Tax Act (MCL 211.78i et al) topermit a foreclosing governmental unit torequest a title product other than a titlesearch, in order to identify the owners of aproperty interest in forfeited property, anddescribes actions that would be consideredreasonable steps to ascertain the addressof a person entitled to notice of a showcause hearing and foreclosure hearing.

House Bill 4488 amends Public Act 105 of1855 (MCL 21.144-which governs thedisposition of surplus state funds) to allowthe state treasurer to invest surplus funds inloans to a land bank fast track authority or abrownfield redevelopment authority at themarket rate of interest for the purpose ofclearing or quieting title to tax revertedproperty held or controlled by a land bankfast track authority.

Note: All of the bills are tie-barred to eachother.

Summary of the 2003land bank legislation

breath” before deciding the fate of a tax-foreclosed property, rather than quicklyplacing the property on the auction block.And now, because of amendments toMichigan brownfield laws, a land bank

so often associated with tax-foreclosedproperties.

Simply put, a land bank gives thecommunity a chance to take a “deep


P U T T I N G T H E M L U L C R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S I N T O A C T I O N — A H O W T O S E R I E S F O R L O C A L L E A D E R S 3

deliver tax-delinquent properties withcomplicated, unmarketable title back tothe market. Unlike what iscontemplated under Michigan law,these land banks generally held title fora short period of time - just the timenecessary to clear title on the property.

These first land banks use unique legalauthority to navigate the courts anddeliver clear, marketable title toproperties previously impossible to sell.In most states without a land bank orsimilar legal entity, tax-foreclosedproperties languish due to difficult legalprocedures required to eliminate oldtax liens and other assessments andcomplications. Michigan has the benefitof the experiences of Cleveland andAtlanta, and has enacted the mostprogressive land bank law in the nation.

Michigan’s firstland bank:GeneseeCounty’s storyFew cities across the nation face greaterchallenges than Flint, Michigan.However, because of the new taxforeclosure, land banking, andbrownfield redevelopment laws, and thecreative ways Genesee County officialsare using new authority to deal withabandoned property, one of Flint’stoughest problems may soon beunder control.

Located in Genesee County, Flint is thebirthplace of General Motors. In 1970,as Flint’s population peaked at 193,000,it seemed the economic engine of Flintcould never stall. General Motorsemployed 80,000 people at factoriesscattered around the city. From the1920s through the 1970s, Flint was amagnet for workers who came to workin those factories, and the newcomersbuilt new neighborhoods — enoughfor the 250,000 people expected topopulate this growing city in thecoming decades.

But for Flint, like most older American cities,the expectation born of the optimism of theindustrial revolution was replaced by a realityfar different than the vibrant, compact,growing city described in Flint’s 1965 masterplan. By 2000, Flint had lost more than60,000 of those high-wage jobs, and the citypopulation had fallen to 120,000. People leftFlint as manufacturing jobs disappeared. Manyleft Michigan in search of work, but most ofthe flight from Flint was to just a few milesoutside the city, to one of the dozen suburbancommunities growing as fast as Flint declined,while the county — with a population ofabout 440,000 — assimilated into the morestable southeast Michigan economy.

Left behind is a city struggling with a weakreal estate market and thousands of abandonedhouses and empty lots. According to the 2000U.S. Census, over 12 percent of Flint’s housingstock is empty. While the problems associatedwith abandoned property are obvious - crime,fire, disease - the effects of abandonedproperty on the city are exacerbated by theresulting loss of tax base. Abandonedproperties diminish the value of surroundingproperty, which directly reduces property taxrevenue that could be used to address theproblems caused by abandonment.

Michigan’s formertax lawsSadly, the very system intended to movetax-foreclosed property back to productiveuse actually contributed to the downwardspiral of urban land.

Under Michigan’s former system of taxforeclosure, abandoned properties wereeither transferred to private speculatorsthrough tax lien sales or became state-owned property through foreclosure.Under either scenario, local leaders lackedauthority to interrupt the decline of tax-reverted land. In fact, the former systemencouraged low-end reuse of tax revertedland due to of the length of time betweenabandonment and reuse – often more thanfive years.

This former system actually contributed tocontagious blight, as one property infectedthe next, and property after propertypassed through tax foreclosure, rarelyresulting in significant redevelopment (dueto tax lien sales by countless differentowners without marketable title).Thousands of properties not sold at a taxlien sale were titled to the state — the“death penalty” for property.

Since February 2003, the Genesee County Land Bank has demolished 236 structuresthroughout the city of Flint.



Worst of all, the system was heartless. Theformer law did not provide for localofficials to intervene in helping familiesfacing the loss of their home.Unfortunately, a family facing taxforeclosure was at the mercy of a tax lienholder, usually an out-of-state investorwith a personal financial interest in theproperty being foreclosed.

It was a low-end market “free-for-all” thatrarely accomplished any public goodbeyond the efficient collection of taxes.Even valuable properties lost in taxforeclosure were destined to tumblethrough the predictable devolution of use:a family home becomes a decent rentalhouse, then a dilapidated rental house, thenan abandoned house, until the propertybecomes a valueless lot, scattered amongother properties falling through the samepernicious process.

Hope ensues -PA 123: the newforeclosure lawBut now, there is some hope. Since thepassage of Public Act 123 of 1999,followed in 2003 by the enactment of thenation’s most progressive land banking law,the state of Michigan and countygovernments have greater authority ingaining control of vacant abandoned land.

The new foreclosure law provides for stateor county tax foreclosure after two years,and under certain circumstances,abandoned property can be foreclosed afteronly one year. This process results in a cleartitle judgment by the state court, asignificant advantage in reuse of land.Under the new system, all property lost toforeclosure is titled to the ownership of thecounty, or to the state for counties thatchoose to pass this responsibility to thestate.

The 1999 law also provides some fundingto assist a county in managing taxforeclosed properties by restricting “profit”from the sale of valuable property to a“Land Reutilization Fund.” This land

With the recent land bank legislation,powerful new legal and financial tools enablecommunities to gain control of vacant andabandoned property and return the land toproductive use. Using the combination of the1999 tax foreclosure law, the Land Bank FastTrack Act, and the amendments to theBrownfield Redevelopment Financing Act,Michigan communities finally have the tools -and the financial resources - to assemble,remediate, maintain, and develop land, thatuntil now, was dismissed as useless,forgotten land.

A significant recommendation of theMichigan Land Use Leadership Council(MLULC) was to amend the existingbrownfield laws to make land bank-ownedproperty brownfield eligible, and to allow forcross-collateralized Brownfield Tax IncrementFinancing to clean up the entire inventory ofland owned by a land bank. A quicksummary of the new brownfieldlegislation follows:

Public Act 258 of 2003 amended theBrownfield Redevelopment Financing Act(MCL 125.2652 et al) to enable the taxincrement financing board that implements abrownfield plan to include, as an eligibleactivity, assistance to a land bank in clearingor quieting title to, and disposing of propertyowned, or held by, a land bank, or propertyover which the land bank may exercise itsauthority under the Michigan Land Bank andCommunity Development Act. Eligibleactivities include, demolition, major clean-up,environmental remediation, infrastructureimprovements, title clearance, and otheractivities allowed under the BrownfieldRedevelopment Financing Act.

The Brownfield Redevelopment FinancingAct permits a brownfield authority(established by a municipality) to captureproperty tax revenue based on increases inthe assessed valued of eligible property, andto use the revenue for the costs of eligibleactivities on eligible property. Under the law,property owned by, or under the control of aland bank, or over which a land bank couldexercise its authority, could be used for thefollowing: eligible activities attributable toany eligible property owned by, or under the

control of the land bank, or over which theland bank could exercise authority; the costof principal and interest on any obligationissued by the brownfield authority to pay thecosts of eligible activities; the reasonablecosts of preparing a work plan or remedialaction plan; and the actual cost of the reviewof the work plan or remedial action plan.

Currently under the law, a brownfield planmust contain 14 components, each providingparticular kinds of information, including butnot limited to: a brief summary of the eligibleactivities proposed for each property, and anestimate of the captured taxable value andtax increment revenues for each year of theplan and from each parcel of eligibleproperty. Under the new law, theseprovisions are be retained, and provision isspecifically applied to eligible property thatqualifies on the basis that the property wasowned or held by a land bank, or that theland bank could exercise its authority over.

Under the law, a brownfield authority mustdetermine the captured taxable value of eachparcel of eligible property that is included ina brownfield zone. The calculation ofcaptured taxable value is based on theamount by which the current taxable value ofeligible property, including property for whichspecific taxes are paid in lieu of propertytaxes, exceeds the property’s initial taxablevalue. The definition of ‘initial taxable value’specifies that property exempt from taxationat the time that initial taxable value isdetermined must be zero, but property forwhich a specific tax is paid in lieu of propertytax is not considered tax-exempt. Under thelaw, the definition of “specific taxes” wouldinclude ‘that portion of the tax levied underthe proposed Tax Reverted Property CleanTitle Act that was not required to bedistributed to a land bank.

Under the new law, the definition for“blighted property” is be expanded to meanproperty owned or under the control of a landbank. Further, the law specifies that the sale,lease, or transfer of the property by a landbank after the property’s inclusion in abrownfield plan would not result in the loss tothe property of its status as “blighted” for thepurposes of the act.

Brownfield financing: new life forabandoned properties



reutilization fund is established to pay costsassociated with managing the inventory offoreclosed land. Together with increasedfees for delinquent taxes, the fund hasbrought nearly $4 million to GeneseeCounty during the first three years ofthe program.

The new law (2003) also allows a countytreasurer to postpone foreclosure on aproperty owner facing a “substantialfinancial hardship.”

This is a more efficient course, as it deliversproperty to new ownership much morequickly, and typically in far bettercondition than the former system.

In Flint, however, it is clear that whilethese new procedures are a significantimprovement, a more aggressive approachis required to use this new law to its

maximum potential in dealing with thehigh volume of vacant andabandoned land.

With funding from the C.S. MottFoundation, Genesee County engaged alocal consulting team and a number ofnational partners in developing a morecreative approach to use tax foreclosure asa community development tool. Thisresearch, with the help of the BrookingsInstitution, Local Initiatives SupportCorporation (LISC), International City/County Management Association (ICMA),the Urban Land Institute (ULI), andothers, led to the creation of the GeneseeCounty Land Bank. The Land Bank isfunded with proceeds from the taxforeclosure process, and allows the countyto acquire land through foreclosure anddetermine the best use of land (with thecommunity’s needs in mind, rather than

simply selling the land at auction to thehighest bidder with no control of theultimate use).

Help isavailable!

THE GENESEEINSTITUTE OFFERSTHE TECHNICALASSISTANCE PROGRAM

Are you facing challenges posed byvacant, abandoned, and blightedproperties in your community? Could aland bank fast track authority help addressyour challenges?

The Genesee Institute, a teaching andresearch affiliate of the Genesee LandBank, is offering a new service to localitiesin Michigan to assist them in implementingthe new Michigan Land Bank Fast TrackAuthority Act.

With a generous grant from the C.S. MottFoundation and support from the Office ofGovernor Granholm, the Genesee Institutewill provide five selected communities withsignificant technical assistance from anexperienced team of policy, legal, andplanning experts, who have created andoperated the Genesee County Land Bank.The value of time in each selected city willbe worth approximately $30,000.Applicants should include a partnership ofthe county treasurer and the county boardof commissioners from a given jurisdiction.

For an application and more informationon the Technical Assistance Program,including primary program objectives andcommunity selection criteria, pleasecontact Dan Kildee at the GeneseeInstitute at (810) 257-3024, or LisaMueller-Levy, Knowledge Sharing Directorat the Local Initiatives SupportCorporation at (212) 455-9370. Detailedinformation may also be viewed on theMSP Web site at www.planningmi.org.

Final applications are due by 5:00 p.m. onFebruary 18, 2005.

TheGenesee CountyLand Bank has over1,300 properties inGenesee County. In2004 every propertywas mowed anddebris hauled away.The Genesee CountyLand BankMaintenance andClean and Greenprograms removedmore than 600,000pounds of materials in2004 alone. BEFORE

AFTER



PA 258: Michigan’sland bank lawIn 2003, the Michigan Legislature used thework of Genesee County as a model inenacting the most progressive land bankinglaw in the nation. The new law, Public Act258 of 2003, allows a county foreclosinggovernmental unit (a county treasurer whohas opted to conduct tax foreclosure) toenter into an agreement with the MichiganLand Bank Fast Track Authority to create acounty land bank fast track authority. Thisagreement conveys the authority of PublicAct 258 to a county authority, governed bya board, appointed by a board ofcommissioners.

The new law, along with amendments tothe Michigan Brownfield RedevelopmentAct, has enabled Genesee County to adopta Brownfield Redevelopment Plan for theentire inventory of tax-foreclosed propertyunder the control of the land bank. Thisplan utilizes a unique Tax IncrementFinancing (TIF) strategy that has enabledthe land bank to finance a much moreaggressive clean-up and redevelopment planfor land bank properties.

The financing relies upon taxes generatedby the redevelopment of tax-foreclosed

property to support bond paymentsfunding aggressive demolition, clean up,and rehabilitation of forgotten land. Theunique feature of the TIF plan is that thetaxes from the entire inventory are cross-collateralized to support the clean-up oftax foreclosed property. Furthermore, thetax captured from more valuableproperties supports improvements for allproperties, whether or not thoseproperties are ever redeveloped orgenerate any significant tax collections.By relying upon taxes generated by thecounty-wide inventory of land throughthis single TIF plan, the county utilizesthe regional inventory of land and themore diverse, stable real estate market tosupport clean up of the worstneighborhoods in the city.

Genesee CountyLand Bank’sfirst stepsSome highlights of the Genesee Countyprogram thus far include:

• Acquired title to more than 3,400parcels of land, including nearly 6percent of the land in the city of Flintin the first three years of the program;

• Rescue of 1,004 families from foreclosurethrough the county treasurer’s foreclosureprevention program. The program allowsowner-occupants facing foreclosure aone-year postponement, followed byactive case management by the staff ofthe treasurer’s office.

• Management of 130 foreclosed tenant-occupied properties owned by the landbank through non-profit housingagencies. As an alternative to sellingtenant-occupied properties to anotherpotentially irresponsible landlord, theseproperties are assigned to agenciesseeking to stabilize neighborhoods andencourage home ownership.

• Rehabilitation of 60 houses intended fornew owner-occupied housing.

• Redevelopment of a 30,000-square-footmixed-use building in downtown Flint.The building–the new Genesee CountyLand Bank Center - will house the landbank plus two additional offices, first-floor retail space, and seven loftapartments. This Main Street tax-foreclosed building has been emptysince 1980.

BEFORE

Before

AFTER

The land bank rehab program is a powerful tool for improvingneighborhoods. This Flint home required nearly $40,000 inrepairs, including a new roof, siding, furnace, kitchen, andbathroom. It sold recently for $75,000.



• Demolition of 231 dilapidated housessince February 2004 by the land bankusing Community Development BlockGrant dollars from the city of Flint.

• Authorization of an initial $5 millionbrownfield plan to demolish between400-500 abandoned homes, cleanhundreds of empty lots, conduct asbestosabatement for residential rehabilitations,and other brownfield eligible activitiesneeded to return tax-foreclosed propertyto productive use.

• Conveyance of over 220 vacant lots tonext-door neighbors through the landbank “side lot” program. Six hundredmore side lot transfers are planned fromthe current inventory.

• Assemblage of hundreds of empty lotsfor city development projects, as well asfor local non-profit and communityorganizations.

• Development of new infill housing bythree non-profit agencies on 36 tax-foreclosed properties.

• Maintenance of empty lots owned bythe county - cutting weeds, cleaningtrash, and boarding buildings, fundedentirely from tax foreclosure proceedsand performed by contracted non-profitagencies. In the summer of 2004 alone,more than 380 tons of debris wasremoved from empty city lots by theland bank.

ConclusionWhile this new system is a dramaticchange and is having some immediateeffects, the real value is best measured inthe long-term impact this effort will haveon the city of Flint.

To ensure intelligent long-term use of thisand other tools, Genesee County hasinitiated a significant land reutilization andcommunity planning effort. This initiative,funded primarily by the Ruth MottFoundation, combines a neighborhood

planning component with regional landuse planning. The goal of theneighborhood planning is to assist the landbank in determining the disposition of

tax-foreclosed land consistent with anintelligent strategy for each neighborhood,working with existing neighborhoodorganizations where possible.

MISSION OF THECAMPAIGNThe National Vacant Properties Campaign’sgoal is to make vacant properties a priorityby building a national network of leaders andexperts; providing tools to communities;raising awareness through communications;and providing technical assistance and training.

FROM ABANDONMENTTO OPPORTUNITYThe American landscape is dotted withhopes and dreams – homes that providesecurity for countless families, main streetslined with opportunity, and schools and parksthat knit our communities together. As surelyas these bricks and beams fulfill ouraspirations, the abandonment of houses,neighborhoods, and once great landmarksrepresents dreams unattained and lost, thetragedy of places for which are nolonger maintained.

In some cities, vacant properties are rare,standing out like missing teeth. In othercommunities, however, the scale ofabandonment is far greater, with entirestreets and neighborhoods resembling urbanghost towns. For those living among them,vacant properties are nothing short of acurse. Neighbors are forced to tolerateeyesores that attract crime, arson, vermin,and dumping. Derelict buildings presentsafety and fire hazards, reduce propertyvalues, and degrade quality of life.

FORTUNATELY, HELP ISON THE WAYIn recent years, cities like Richmond,Virginia, Flint, Michigan, and Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, have launched ambitiousinitiatives to reclaim their vacant properties.Others cities, such as San Diego, California,

and Las Vegas, Nevada, have takenaggressive steps to prevent abandonment inthe first place. The challenge is attracting abroader set of stakeholders, from smartgrowth advocates, who see propertyreclamation as a way to offset urban sprawl,to affordable housing groups, seeking torehabilitate homes. The vacant propertiesproblem is now generating more scrutinyfrom researchers and policy makers thanever before — yet another indication of theexpanding search for solutions.

The time to translate this growing interestinto concrete strategies for change is now!Lessons from individual communities need tobe shared with peers. Civic leaders needinformation that can embolden them to takeaction, and policymakers need help incrafting the reforms that will bring vacantabandoned properties back to life.

To achieve these goals, Smart GrowthAmerica (SGA), the International City/CountyManagement Association (ICMA), and theLocal Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)are spearheading a national campaign toprevent abandonment, redevelop vacantproperties, and revitalize existing communities.

The National Vacant Properties Campaign isa project of Smart Growth America (SGA),the International City/County ManagementAssociation (ICMA), Local Initiatives SupportCorporation (LISC), and the National Trustfor Historic Preservation (NTHP). TheCampaign is funded by the generous supportof the Fannie Mae Foundation, the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency, the FordFoundation, and the Surdna Foundation.

Source: www.vacantproperties.org

The National Vacant PropertiesCampaign: creating opportunityfrom abandonment


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219 South Main Street, Suite 300Ann Arbor, MI 48104

phone: 734-913-2000 fax: 734-913-2061 web: www.planningmi.org

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Farmington Hills, MI

This publication was produced by the Michigan Society of Planning. This publication is funded bythe Genesee Institute, a teaching and research affiliate of the Genesee County Land Bank.

Photo credits: Genesee County Land Bank

SmartGrowthTactics

OnlineresourcesThe Brookings Institution’s Center on Urban and

Metropolitan Policy: www.brookings.edu/urban

Genesee County Land Bank: www.thelandbank.org

The International City/County Management Association:

www.icma.org/vacantproperties.

The Local Initiative Support Corporation’s (LISC):

www.liscnet.org/resources/

vacant_abandoned.shtml?Planning+&+Land+Use.

Michigan Land Use Leadership Council:

www.michiganlanduse.org

National Vacant Properties Campaign:

www.vacantproperties.org

NationalLand BankConferenceA national conference on land bankingwill be held in Flint, Michigan, onApril 7-8, 2005, with one day specificallyfocused on the Michigan land bank law.This free conference will feature nationalexperts on urban land reform and landbanking and is sponsored by theGenesee Institute and the NationalVacant Properties Campaign throughsupport from the C.S. Mott Foundation.For more information, contact TheGenesee Institute at: (810) 257-3024, ore-mail: [email protected]

A regional land use planning effort, led bythe faculty of the University of MichiganSchool of Architecture and UrbanPlanning, will seek to connect urban smartgrowth practices such as the tax foreclosureproject with better regional land usepolicies. The 2003 report of the Michigan

Land Use Leadership Council provides theframework for this local effort to makesmart growth a reality in the GeneseeCounty area.

Genesee County’s progress in addressingthe problems of vacant and abandonedproperty has been a result of partnershipsbetween state and local government, localnon-profit community based organizations,academic institutions in Michigan andaround the country, as well as several keynational organizations concerned withurban redevelopment.

There is much more to learn and muchmore to be done in creating a coherent setof policies that embrace urban land as theasset it should be. Flint, Michigan, hasmade a bold start and can provide someimportant lessons to other communities,large and small, struggling to deal withforgotten urban land.

Dan Kildee is the elected treasurer of GeneseeCounty, Michigan. He recently served on theMichigan Land Use Leadership Councilappointed by Michigan Governor Jennifer

Granholm and is a member of the AdvisoryCommittee for the National Vacant PropertiesCampaign. Kildee is the co-chair of theMichigan Redevelopment Readiness AdvisoryCommittee, and is a member of the MichiganEconomic and Environment Roundtable. He ispresident of the Genesee County Land BankAuthority, the county’s newly formed land bank.Dan Kildee may be reached at(810) 257-3024 or at: [email protected]


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