Land banks mean progress in community

About five years ago the county land bank was established, and almost immediately it was successful in gaining state funding to remove dozens of blighted properties. The train was on the track, and it just keeps chugging along.

Last year, seven properties in Sandusky and Perkins Township were razed . ...

Land bank director Scott Schell explained the purpose of the neighborhood initiative this way: “To stabilize property values by removing and greening vacant and blighted properties in targeted areas in an effort to prevent future foreclosures for existing homeowners.”

... For a casual observer, it can be difficult to see the progress because the land bank succeeds by removing the blight. The evidence is not apparent because the offending property is gone, replaced by green space.

But residents who routinely drive through communities in the county can see it clearly. Dozens of blighted properties have been removed thanks to the land bank program and other efforts to clean up neighborhoods.

... There is still much work to be done, but if the recent past is an indication, owners of properties that don’t meet code, or aren’t occupied, likely know by now they have a choice: Fix it up, or lose it

Read the full editorial from the Sandusky Register at bit. ly/2pnW50A