The land bank, also known as the Butler County Land Reutilization Corporation, provides local communities with funds to demolish eyesores and nuisance properties and to promote economic and housing development. Ten Butler County communities are members of the land bank — Hamilton and Middletown were founding cities.
Oxford and Madison townships joined the land bank this week. After welcoming them into the fold, the land bank board agreed to table a request by Ross Twp. for $10,000 to demolish a vacant property at 4330 Hamilton Cleves Road.
The township has already torn down the old Venice Castle restaurant on the parcel next door and now wants to use a combination of land bank and Community Development Block Grant funds to make a larger parcel to hopefully sell for future development, according to Township Administrator Bob Bass.
Bass couldn’t be at the land bank meeting, but the members had many questions they needed the administrator to answer so they postponed a vote. Bass said later the total cost to demolish the vacant house is estimated at $18,000 and he hopes to secure the remaining $8,000 in CDBG money.
But Commissioner Don Dixon told the Journal-News he had a problem with the request for several reasons and believes the land bank needs some kind of a system for prioritizing projects.
“We’re putting money in there from the delinquent tax fund and we need to stretch that as far as we can,” Dixon said. “Some cases where the entities don’t have the money, really, really don’t have the money, then I understand how that works, and we’ll step in and help. But if you are going to take a piece of property down and re-market it for a profit and you want the land bank to help, then I think the land bank should be reimbursed.”
The township spent $193,893 to buy the land the old restaurant sat on, clear it and fill in the flood plain. Last March Bass said they planned to possibly build a township government services center there. However, they have since purchased the old Tragessar Ford building downtown for that purpose.
The property in question at the land bank has a $131,000 price tag to get it ready for sale.
As for Dixon’s idea to have the township reimburse the land bank?
“That’s possible,” Bass said. “It would be a board decision and I’m not real sure what way they would look at it.”
The township has already received $5,000 from the land bank to raze a building on Cardinal Avenue. Wayne Twp. is the only other entity outside the two big cities to apply for demolition money. They were approved for $7,250 to rip out a dwelling at 5966 Wayne Milford Road.
Land Bank Executive Director Mike McNamara said he has had discussions with all of the jurisdictions about potential demolitions, but he isn’t going to take the lead on any projects because the land bank is only intended to be a tool for local governments. He said maybe it is time to put some prioritization guidelines in place.
“I think we’re evolving to a point where it’s appropriate to consider giving a grade or some level of scrutiny to the applications that we’re getting,” McNamara said.
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