Pittsburgh Public Schools and Allegheny County will now have a voice in deciding what Pittsburgh does with blighted properties.
City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved expanding the board of Pittsburgh’s land bank to 11 members from nine.
The school district and county will each get an appointment to the board.
Control of the remaining nine seats remains evenly divided among the mayor, council and the existing board members.
Council also approved an agreement that will enable the land bank to avoid paying back taxes to the city, county and school district when it buys blighted properties.
“I’m proud of the work that we’ve done to position our land bank to move properties more efficiently,” Mayor Ed Gainey said in a statement. “This new agreement will allow us to bring everyone to the table who has a stake in the success of our land bank.”
Both pieces of legislation were sponsored by Councilmen R. Daniel Lavelle, Bobby Wilson and Khari Mosley — all land bank board members.
Lavelle and Wilson praised the city’s collaboration with the school district and county.
“We are interlinked — our efforts to combat blight and empower low-income families are shared responsibilities, ensuring the prosperity of our communities,” Wilson said.
The land bank, an affiliate of the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, was created in 2014. It tales vacant and abandoned properties and puts them to new uses.
Last year, the land bank sold its first batch of blighted properties nearly a decade after its formation.
Officials last year approved an agreement between the land bank, the city and the URA to allow the entities to transfer properties to one another. Officials had said the land bank was unable to function properly without that deal in place.
Julia Felton is a TribLive reporter covering Pittsburgh City Hall and other news in and around Pittsburgh. A La Roche University graduate, she joined the Trib in 2020. She can be reached at jfelton@triblive.com.