MOW TO OWN:

Panel will design mow-to-own trade-off for property

Proposed program would let people acquire blighted properties by improving them.

A proposed new program could allow residents to take ownership of the properties that are creating blight in their communities.

But they’ll have to work for it first.

Last week, the Memphis City Council approved a resolution to create a committee to design a mow-to-own program that creates a mechanism for homeowners to acquire adjoining properties by maintaining and improving them.

The idea comes from Councilman Berlin Boyd.

If the final program is approved, property owners would be allowed to take care of a vacant lot adjacent to their own property for a period of time, while the work they’ve done is credited toward the purchase price.

“It encourages people to take pride and ownership in their community by taking care of those lots, knowing they will get something in return,” Boyd said. “I’ve run into people who said, ‘If I could buy that lot for 100 bucks, I wouldn’t mind.’”

Memphis and Shelby County have about 6,000 properties in their land banks and spend about $8 million annually to mow and maintain them.

“I’m trying to mitigate the cost for the city and county because it costs city and county so much money to cut (lawns on) the property,” Boyd said. “The advantage for the city and county is we’ve taken a non-tax-producing property and turned it back to a tax-producing property.”

Most of the properties in the land bank are owned by Shelby County, and Boyd said he’s working with the county on the issue.

County Commissioner Eddie Jones, co-chairman of a joint city-county committee on delinquent tax and blight properties, sees the need for the program and understands why folks already vested in the community would want to take part.

But, as a code enforcement supervisor for the city, he also knows that mow-to-own will need to be thoroughly vetted and might require changes to state laws.

“Not that I’m trying take on anything extra, but I do not mind coming over and sitting in on some of their meetings,” Jones said. “There are a lot of things you’re going to need to know because you’re not going to be able to get it done by saying, ‘Hey, it’s sounds like a good idea, let’s do it.’”

A mow-to-own program was launched in Columbus, Ohio, in 2013 as part of Mayor Michael Coleman’s vacant and abandoned properties initiative, said John Turner, the Columbus land bank administrator.

“I think it’s been a very well-received program and we’ve had a lot of positive input from community groups and neighbors,” Turner said.

Participation is open to owners of rental property, owner-occupants and nonprofit organizations, who pay an initial nonrefundable $175 fee. They are required to be current on their own property taxes and have no history of nuisance, building or code violations.

The average cost of a Columbus lot is $1,200. Property owners receive a $25 credit each time a lot is mowed and must provide receipts to prove the cost of other improvements, such as tree removal, he said.

Most pay it off fairly quickly, Turner said.

“They’re done within a couple of months because everybody wants to go to ownership of property,” he said.

In addition to Columbus, mow-to-own programs are underway or being considered in New Orleans, Rockford, Illinois, and Springfield, Ohio.

“It’s successful in other cities and it definitely can be done here,” Boyd said.