Sale of low-value land banked parcels no longer need Council approval

The City of Cincinnati will now be able to bypass several steps in getting low value, non-productive land parcels into the hands of new owners.

An ordinance passed by City Council on April 10 allows the City to work with the Hamilton County Reutilization Corporation for the disposal of abandoned or tax delinquent parcels valued at less than $25,000. These property sales will no longer be subject to City Planning Commission review and Council approval.

Previously, the properties had been added to the Cincinnati Land Reutilization Program (CLRP), established in 1996 to facilitate the return of these parcels to productive use. Parcels in the program failed to sell at two sheriff's sales offerings and have been forfeited to the State of Ohio, which makes them available to the City at minimal cost.

However, staff costs associated with getting these properties into the hands of responsible citizens for new development, side yard expansion, or community gardens, often exceeds the value of the lots.

Councilmembers Chris Smitherman, P.G. Sittenfeld, and Charlie Winburn voted against the ordinance.

Previous reading on BC:
City to sell three land-banked OTR properties (2/26/13)
Planning Commission Friday: Kirby Road School, Wasson Way, land sales (1/17/13)
New Port strategic plan focuses on targeted investment, stabilization (11/20/12)
Hamilton County land bank has new blog, better info (7/16/12)
Land-banked Mohawk parcels could be sold for $1 (2/22/11)