Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , October 26 , 2016 3
Task Force : city property sales
By MARK REYNOLDS mreynolds @ tcnewspapers . com
Home sales , illegal dumping and zombie properties were on the agenda at a meeting of the City of Newburgh ’ s Distressed Properties Task Force last Wednesday . According to the group , sales of city-owned properties are on the rise .
“ To date , the dollar amount we ’ ve sold is $ 750,000 ,” said David Kohl , an economic development specialist at city Department of Planning and Development , referring to sales this year . “ That ’ s double all of last year .”
Some of the sales were not yet closed , he noted . “ One of the ways we can improve distressed properties is to get them fixed up and back on the tax rolls ,” said Kohl .
Instead of auctions , he said , the city carries out a bidding process in which buyers are vetted for suitability . “ So that people don ’ t just buy properties and just sit on them ,” Kohl said .
About a third of all city-owned properties sold in the last year – about 60 parcels , many taken due to non-payment of taxes – were sold to owner-occupants , Kohl said . “ It ’ s a wonderful thing that ’ s happening ,” he said .
Noel Thompson asked how the city monitors the care of properties sold . “ They have a clause that says you need to fix them up in a certain amount of time ,” Kohl replied .
City Manager Michael Ciaravino explained most city-sold properties have deeds with a reverter clause stipulating that within a certain amount of time , usually 18 months , certain milestones must be met .
“ What we discovered was there was no administration of these reverter clauses ,” Ciaravino said . “ We went back and inventoried all city-owned property that we sold … went up and down the streets , asking are they reverter or not ?”
What they found were properties that had both reverter clauses and outstanding liens . One such property was the old Liberty Street School at Liberty and Renwick streets . The historic property was sold very recently to RipRap LLC , a company devoted to renovating historic buildings into mixed-use , creative spaces .
“ No one had done anything with it … I was prepared to make a case that we needed to cover the lien ,” said the city manager , but fortunately the property sold . “ We believe the new owner will do something transformative with it .”
Ciaravino said the city would step
The old Liberty Street School has been sold to RipRap LLC .
up its use of reverter clauses to address blighted properties . “ We ’ re going to rattle the cage ,” he said .
There are currently between 700 and 800 vacant properties in the city , explained city Planner Ali Church . Slightly more than 100 are city-owned , she said . Of the non-city-owned vacant properties , Church said , about 70 percent are considered “ zombies .”
Zombie properties – foreclosure properties abandoned by owners and lenders – are the focus of a new state law that forces banks to care for properties reclaimed due to foreclosure . The law also establishes a database with information on bank-foreclosed properties in the state .
“ All banks must now register bankowned properties outright ,” said Church , and the city is currently providing property information to the state . “ If we ’ ve exhausted options to find an owner … they will take these properties and prosecute for us .”
Banks are responding much faster to violations and abatement notices since the law was passed , Church said .
A surveillance camera dedicated specifically to recording illegal dumping was another topic at the meeting . The camera , mounted this summer with a grant from Orange County , has so far recorded five , separate dumping incidents . Another one is expected to be installed before the end of the year , Church said .
With help from the city ’ s year-old , anti-dumping law , people caught illegally dumping are being fined , said
Councilwoman Karen Mejia . The law brings a minimum fine of $ 500 for the first offense .
The city has also increased abatements on properties with code violations , said Church . If a violation is not addressed , “ the city steps in and does the work for the property owner and charges it back in the form of a tax lien ,” she explained .
Earlier this year , the city shortened the amount of time a property owner has to take action on an abatement notice . Property owners now have one week to perform the abatement after receiving a notice from the city .
The city Department of Public Works estimates 99 tons of trash has been removed from non-city owned properties in the last year , Church said .