Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sanchez and City Council President Darrell Clarke have come to a compromise about the Philadelphia Land Bank: vacant properties up for sale will still need approval from the vacant property review committee of City Council. Though this review process will slow down approval of city owned vacant land sales, Councilwoman Quiñones Sanchez is confident that a nine month timeframe for vacant property sales can still be maintained.
The land bank bill is expected to pass next week. Its goal is to consolidate vacant properties into a central agency that can deal with their sale more quickly than the current system, which might charitably be referred to as "a mess". As it stands now, buyers interested in buying vacant property from the city have to determine which city agency owns the property, and then wade through their sales process.
Though nine months might not sound like the speediest of turnaround times for property sales, it's a big improvement over the years-long process that awaits prospective buyers of vacant city-owned property.
· Philly brokers deal to create land bank of vacant properties [News Works]
· Philadelphia Lawmakers Compromise on City 'Land Bank' Plan[CBS Philly]