MANSFIELD — Blight removal in Richland County can continue for the next quarter thanks to a recent $1.3 million allocation from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s involvement in the Hardest Hit Fund Program.
The money was made available to the Richland County Land Reutilization Corporation on Wednesday. Land bank manager Amy Hamrick said it’s still too early to know how many demolitions the $1.3 million will buy them.
“We still need to sit down and do some goal planning. We don’t have specifics in mind at this point,” Hamrick said.
Since January 2016, Hamrick said the land bank has 52 demolitions in process currently and another 30 in line for bidding. And of those 52 demolitions, 21 have been torn down already.
Chairman of the board Bart Hamilton said the land bank has been able to demolish around 500 homes since its incorporation in November 2013. He expects the recent $1.3 million allocation will allow them to demolish around 130 additional houses. But there is still significant work to be done, he said.
“There are probably another 1,000 houses that need to come down with the county, but we’ve made a dent in it over the last six years,” Hamilton said.
The grant is the single largest chunk of funds the land bank has received since incorporating. Over its existence, Hamrick said the land bank has received close to $3 million for demolition purposes.
Another allocation schedule is coming up in September.
“We’re hoping for some more money,” Hamilton said.
The land bank’s effort aligns with mayor Tim Theaker’s pledge in October 2015 during the mayoral debate where he stated the city will continue to work on reducing the city’s blight. In fact, the land bank and the city have a contract that specifies the land bank will handle all of the city’s demolitions, excluding those with federal environmental restrictions.
The city recently secured a $100,000 state grant to demolish an abandoned AP Gas Station on Lexington Avenue.
According to the city’s Finance Department, the PRIDE tax levy — renewed in May 2014 — has generated $1.6 million for demolitions since January 2014, which rounds out to nearly 20 percent of the entire levy’s revenue.
And the demolitions will continue throughout the state as well. The $1.3 million Brown allocated to Richland County’s land bank is part of $191 million Brown secured in investments to the Hardest Hit Fund Program back in December.
“Ohio communities and homeowners are still recovering from the foreclosure crisis that devastated our country,” said Brown, who is also a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. “Foreclosed or abandoned homes can hurt home values in our neighborhoods and contribute to crime. This funding will allow Ohio communities to prevent foreclosure and get rid of blighted properties in our state.”
Hamilton expressed gratitude to Brown, who he said was instrumental in securing funds for Richland County and other communities around the state.
“There’s more demolition work we can do, and we’re just going to continue on with our mission which is to just get rid of a lot of blight in the area. This money is going to help us do that,” he said.
