Upon recommendation by the Neighborhood Advisory Committee, which oversees city landbank sales, and subject to the approval of Council, the Mayor is hereby authorized to transfer title to any unimproved, residential lot owned by the city upon the following terms and conditions.
(a) For purposes of this program, any lot transferred pursuant to this section shall not be used for residential construction or for resale speculation. Appropriate deed restrictions shall be contained in the transfer documents.
(b) For purposes of this section,
ADJACENT
is defined as a lot sharing a common boundary and fronting the same street (i.e., a side yard lot). The definition of
ADJACENT
does not include lots that abut the back or front of the owner’s lot.
(c) Written notice of the availability of the lot shall be given to the owners of the owner-occupied single- and two-family properties directly adjacent to and abutting the lot on either side. With regard to properties in which neighborhood stabilization program (NSP) funds were used to acquire or pay holding costs, only adjacent property owners who fall within NSP income guidelines will be given the opportunity to acquire the property as per NSP program requirements.
(d) If only one adjacent owner is interested in purchasing the lot, the lot may be sold to that property owner for the sum of $100 plus closing costs, as well as the costs to survey and consolidate the lot with the owner’s parcel. If both adjacent property owners are interested in purchasing the lot, the lot shall be divided into two equal parts and sold to each party for the price of $50 each, $100 total, plus closing costs as well as the costs of a lot division and consolidation of the divided portion with the respective owner’s current parcel, including, but not limited to, survey costs.
(e) Nothing herein shall require the city to offer any particular unimproved city-owned lot to adjacent property owners, or shall otherwise be construed to prohibit the sale or holding of a lot by the city for development purposes or the use of said lots for community gardening or other public purposes.
(f) The Neighborhood Advisory Committee may adopt rules, not inconsistent with this section, for the implementation of this section.
(Ord. 24-12, passed 4-24-2012; Ord. 44-14, passed 10-21-2014)