The Boardman Township Land Bank is getting ready to sell some of the properties it has acquired in the three years since its inception.
The township’s zoning department held its annual open house on November 10, and the land bank took center stage. According to Zoning Inspector Sarah Gartland, the land bank has played an important role in dealing with blighted properties and in keeping property values from falling.
The land bank came into being in 2012 and commenced the fulfillment of its mission, to make use of neglected, abandoned, and tax-foreclosed properties, in 2013. As of now, 14 properties have been acquired by the Boardman Township Land Bank and a process is being developed to begin divesting the township of the properties.
A brochure printer could help the Boardman Township Zoning Board inform the public of the purpose of the land bank and how it can better their community.
The first properties to be sold are those acquired by the township in 2013 and the zoning department anticipates the properties will be ready for sale in early 2016. Letters will go out to property owners adjacent to the sale properties, offering them first refusal to obtain the property for additional yard space. A website will be set up by the zoning office providing the properties’ appraised value.
