PHILADELPHIA LAND BANK
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Land Bank was held on Thursday, October
30, 2014 commencing at 2:30 p.m. in the offices of the Philadelphia Housing Development
Corporation, being its regular meeting place, 17th Floor, 1234 Market Street, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, pursuant to proper notices.
ROLL CALL
The following members of the Board of Directors reported present: Paul L. Badger, Jr., Don
McGrogan, Michael Koonce, Majeedah Rashid, Rick Sauer, Ken Scott, Courtney Voss and
Herbert Wetzel.
The following members of the Board of Directors were not present: Brian Abernathy and
Jennifer Kates.
The following members of PHDC and OHCD staff were present: John Carpenter, Nicholas
Scafidi, Esquire, Christi Jackson, Victoria Welch and Paul Chrystie.
Public Attendees: The list of public attendees is attached to these minutes.
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Koonce called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m. A quorum of directors was present and the
meeting, having been duly convened, was ready to proceed with business.
Agenda Item 1
APPROVAL OF BOARD MINUTES
Mr. Koonce called for a motion to approve the minutes of the Board meeting of October 6, 2014.
Upon motion made and duly seconded, the minutes of October 6, 2014 were approved as
presented.
Agenda Item 2
PROGRESS REPORT
Mr. Koonce requested Mr. Carpenter to present a progress report outlining recent and
prospective activities for the Land Bank. A copy of Mr. Carpenter’s report is attached to these
Minutes.
Mr. Scott asked when the Land Bank website will be operational. Mr. Carpenter responded that
the website will be a work-in-progress; it is expected to be launched in January and then it will
be adapted and improved throughout the next year.
Mr. Sauer asked when deeds into the Land Bank will be prepared. Mr. Carpenter responded that
the research phase should be fully completed by next June; however, deeds can be prepared and
recorded as Council approves the transfer of specific properties.
Mr. Wetzel noted that the vacancy project cannot rely solely on records from other City
agencies, as each City department will define vacancy based on its own mission and needs. He
asked how this effort will be different from existing procedures. Mr. Carpenter responded that
the intent is to expand data sets (e.g., include all public utilities), and utilize more sophisticated
spatial recognition data, including fly-over technology to detect heat and shaping. The goal will
be to rely more on data and less on physical surveys.
Ms. Voss noted if Council approves the transfer of properties to the Land Bank, the Board should
have the ability to determine whether it will accept title to those properties. She also asked
whether the Land Bank will accept title after Council, as a whole, acts or as each Councilperson
approves transfer. Mr. Carpenter stated that the Board will have the opportunity to review
transfers before they are received by the Land Bank. He also stated that it appears to be
Council’s preference to consider approvals district by district.
Agenda Item 3
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Koonce asked if any member of the public wished to comment upon any item on the Board’s
agenda.
Mr. Koonce acknowledged Mr. Jihad Ali. Mr. Ali commented upon the selection of Board
members appointed to the Ad Hoc Committees; the fact that agenda items, while identified on
the website, do not attach proposed reports or resolutions; whether other groups were considered
before awarding the Sage contract; and that he would prefer a 3 minute limit on public comment.
Mr. Ali then submitted his other comments to the Board in writing.
Mr. Wetzel remarked that, while there is an Ad Hoc Committee for Land Bank policy
development, each Board member has been actively involved with the Land Bank’s
organizational development. Information and recommendations are routinely exchanged among
Board members, and each member has been engaged with every significant Board decision.
Mr. Sauer and Mr. Wetzel requested staff to consider whether the Land Bank website could be
improved, or alternate communication means found, to better notify the public of Land Bank
actions and postings. Mr. Carpenter noted that the Land Bank’s new website should be
operational in January and that should provide a more consistent and accessible method of
displaying this information.
Mr. Robert Hayes identified himself as a representative of a small non-profit organization,
Opportunity, Inc., and asked several questions: (1) will big businesses be able to acquire all Land
Bank properties; (2) what is the Land Bank’s moral vision; and (3) how can small non-profits
acquire properties.
Mr. Wetzel replied that the Land Bank is restricted to acquiring only vacant tax-delinquent
properties and that any private citizen or company has the ability to work through the City Law
Department to have a particular property listed for sheriff sale and sold to the highest bidder.
When the Land Bank begins acquiring property on its own through tax foreclosure, those
properties will be available to the public, through an open disposition process.
Mr. Koonce added that when the Land Bank consolidates the public vacant property inventory, it
will begin efforts to transfer as many as 2,000 properties as sideyards to adjacent homeowners.
The Land Bank also intends to foster development of single-family affordable homes, as well as
assisting land acquisition and expansion for local small businesses.
Ms. Amy Laura Cahn asked if the Land Bank has begun crafting its Land Acquisition Policy and
whether the Land Bank’s data will be publically available. Mr. Carpenter responded that the
Land Bank will be developing acquisition policies in the coming months, and decisions on data
sharing may depend on the source of that information and if other agencies provide their consent
to distribute.
Agenda Item 4
AUTHORIZATION TO SUBMIT PROPOSED LAND BANK STRATEGIC PLAN AND
DISPOSITION POLICY TO CITY COUNCIL
Mr. Koonce announced that the Board would now consider the Proposed Strategic Plan and
Disposition Policy. He stated that Board members had reviewed the Policy; that the Policy had
been the subject of a public hearing; that a transcript of that hearing was posted on the Land
Bank’s website; and that a summary of public comments and revisions based on that public input
was included in the Strategic Plan.
Mr. Koonce called for a motion on the resolution to approve the Proposed Strategic Plan and
Disposition Policy for submission to City Council. Upon motion made and duly seconded, the
resolution was approved by unanimous vote of the Board as follows:
RESOLUTION NO. 2014 - 14
RESOLUTION APPROVING AND ADOPTING A PROPOSED STRATEGIC PLAN
AND DISPOSITION POLICY FOR THE PHILADELPHIA LAND BANK
WHEREAS, Chapter 16-500 of the Philadelphia Code, entitled “Philadelphia Land
Bank” (the “Land Bank Ordinance”), requires the Board of Directors of the Land Bank to
develop a strategic plan in coordination with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission to
guide the acquisition, maintenance and disposition of Land Bank properties;
WHEREAS, the Land Bank, with the assistance of Interface Studio, LLC, has consulted
with the Office of the Mayor; members and staff of City Council; and constituent, neighborhood
and advisory groups, in an effort to develop a strategic plan that contains the necessary
components identified in the Land Bank Ordinance and addresses the concerns of public and
private interests;
WHEREAS, in accordance with the Land Bank Ordinance, the Land Bank issued a
preliminary draft of its Strategic Plan and subsequently conducted a public hearing prior to
preparation of its Proposed Strategic Plan; and
WHEREAS, the Board now desires to adopt the Proposed Strategic Plan.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Philadelphia Land Bank that:
1. The Strategic Plan dated October 30, 2014 as presented to this Board and attached
hereto is hereby adopted as the Proposed 2015 Philadelphia Land Bank Strategic
Plan.
2. Land Bank Counsel is directed to prepare an appropriate resolution for introduction
into Philadelphia City Council to allow Council’s review, and to request Council’s
approval, of the Land Bank’s Proposed Strategic Plan.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Koonce informed the public that the Board will hold its next Board Meetings on Thursday,
November 20, 2014 and Thursday, December 18, 2014 beginning at 2:30 p.m.
There being no further business to come before the Board, Mr. Koonce declared the meeting
adjourned at 3:10 p.m.
___________________________
SECRETARY TO THE BOARD
Date: October 30, 2014
To:
Philadelphia Land Bank board of directors
From: John Carpenter
Progress Report
Over the past two weeks we modified the Draft Strategic Plan and Disposition Policies that we
published at the beginning of October in the following ways:
We replaced the letter from the board to reflect the Proposed rather than Draft Plan
We made a number of text and table changes to add information about accessible and
visitable housing as required by the ordinance and noted by several speakers at the
public hearing.
We added more information to the five year acquisition and disposition targets table to
include projections of tax foreclosure volume. Volume is modest in the first year as we
anticipate experimenting with the tools before expanding the effort in future years.
We added a sentence in the five year targets section (page 15 of the executive
summary) authorizing the Land Bank to acquire property through tax foreclosure, as
required by the Land Bank ordinance.
We added a new section that summarizes comments that we heard during the hearing
and from stakeholders over the past month and the Land Bank’s responses to those
comments.
We made a number of changes to the proposed disposition policies based on feedback
of the last few weeks.
We published the revised documents as our Proposed Plan last Friday. Since then we
have incorporated two additional changes:
In the Plan and in the comments, we note our expectation that the Land Bank will
promote the participation of Minority, Women, and Disabled-owned firms.
In the Disposition Policies, we added language to make it clearer that we examine not
just the proposed applicant but also their other ownership interests as we review taxes
and other issues to determine whether they are qualified to purchase property from the
City.
Understanding Vacancy
As we discussed in the Proposed Land Bank Strategic Plan, the City does not maintain a
comprehenisve list of all vacant properties in the City, but we recognize that it would be very
helpful to do so. Over the past two months the Office of Innovation and Technology has begun
to put together a team of information specialists from across the government, including staff of
the Land Bank, to help develop better tools and systems for this purpose. It is not a simple task,
but we are committed to building better tools that will allow the City and its partners to better
understand and address vacancy in the future.
Preparing for the transfer of property to the Land Bank
We have been working with staff from the Records Department, Survey District, attorneys from
the land holding agencies, and a team of interns to research the deeds of the estimated 8,000
properties that may eventually be transferred to the Land Bank. We are about 2/3 through this
project, with more than 5,800 deeds staged for production once we are authorized to transfer.
Systems Development
We are working with the Office of Innovation and Technology and the Davenport Group to
build the Land Bank’s website. The new website will make it easier to understand who we are
and what we do, and will help us more easily and effectively share information about our
property inventory and decision making.