Critics line up to bash land bank in Council, as Parker administration promises change

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration promises change is coming to the Philadelphia Land Bank, the perennially beleaguered agency created in 2013 to rationalize vacant property policy.

This pledge came at a packed City Council hearing Wednesday, where the land bank found itself the subject of relentless criticism.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who called the hearing, and many of those called to testify argued that the land bank privileges private developers over affordable housing groups, community gardeners, and neighborhood associations.

“The same groups that fought for the land bank in the first place routinely receive unfriendly and restrictive service from the agency,” Gauthier said in her opening remarks.

“Applicants fortunate enough to make it through the process can expect a land disposition to take anywhere from one to five years,” Gauthier said. “These long timelines are not as problematic for large for-profit companies … which means their applications move to the front of the line.”

The land bank was created to make it easier to get Philadelphia’s abundant vacant lots back into productive use and to end the previous system that relied on behind-the-scenes machinations that benefited politically connected developers.

While it is an improvement on the former regime, the land bank has often been paralyzed by City Council interference, bureaucracy, and a board riven by battles for influence between interest groups.

Matters grew worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration neglected the agency, and sheriff sales, which enable the land bank to acquire more property, ground to a halt.

The agency’s strategic plan, which was supposed to be updated every three years, hasn’t been refreshed since 2019. Annual progress reports mandated by law also haven’t been issued since then, while the city’s “Land Management Dashboard” website offers inconsistent data. The map of available land is hard to navigate.

“What I’ve been through [attempting to acquire land from the city] is absolutely horrendous,” said Tayyib Smith, a principal at Smith & Roller, a local development group. He described dealing with a bureaucracy that was not clear on which properties the city actually owned, forcing him to refashion his plans repeatedly.

“We cannot move forward with this level of ineptitude in the city of Philadelphia,” Smith said.

The city’s new director of Planning and Development, Jessie Lawrence, promises change. Better transparency, a new strategic plan and annual reports, a usable website, and perhaps a more robust staff are in the works.

Lawrence, a veteran of the land bank, acknowledged that the current system is confusing and he committed to addressing some of the agency’s basic user issues.

“We are looking at what that front page of the land bank looks like, understanding that the website is important, how people understand what is available — and what is not — is important,” Lawrence said.

When Gauthier asked when an update of the annual performance reports or the three-year strategic plan could be expected, he promised “to provide a report by the end of the year.”

The land bank executive director, Angel Rodriguez, testified that the agency should have priority access to properties at sheriff sale again by the end of the year.

The land bank has been level funded, with the same staffing complement, since its creation. While the agency previously hasn’t asked for more resources, he is considering asking for a bigger budget next year.

“I need more attorneys. I need more money for property management, external legal services, and an updated website, which is going to cost money,” Rodriguez said.

All this comes amid Parker’s push to create and repair 30,000 housing units in the city during her term, and the administration sees the land bank’s thousands of vacant parcels as integral to that plan.

Details are still vague — Lawrence said the delayed plan will be rolled out in early 2025 — but the movement of property out of the land bank has surged during the Parker administration.

According to Rodriguez, 364 housing units have been signed off on, or are on the way to approval, over the last 10 months. Most of those units have been using the Turn the Key program, created by City Council to bolster affordable home ownership production.

The Building Industry Association, which represents residential developers, defended the land bank. Mohamed “Mo” Rushdy pointed out that the reason private developers often had an easier time securing property is that they have the resources to start building quickly, adding new properties to the tax rolls and getting rid of vacant lots that scar neighborhoods.

He also argued that the land bank staff is not where the holdup is in the process: “Recent changes to the Bank Board have streamlined … approvals. However, the final required action remains the responsibility of City Council.”

Otherwise unaddressed in Wednesday’s hearing was the dominant role City Council itself has on municipal land sales. If district Council members do not like a project, they can decline to introduce the enabling legislation. No explanation needed.

During a quiet autumn session in City Council, consumed by the national election and the debate over the 76ers arena, the only legislation of note has been 55 land disposition bills, mostly for Turn the Key projects.

Of the 55 land sale bills transmitted to Council this session, city records show that 12 remain unintroduced.

Many of the attendees of Wednesday’s hearing, however, said the burst of activity from the Turn the Key program is bitter fruit. Organizations seeking access to city land for other reasons are still frustrated. As of June, only 23 properties were disposed by the land bank for community gardens since its creation.

“The more property values increase, the harder it is to get these lots,” said Mike Moran of the Iglesias Gardens Land Security Group, which has been seeking 13 parcels from the land bank since 2021. “Prioritize community members, prioritize community gardens, prioritize side lots, because developers are already winning.”