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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Thomas Petrone |
  
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Petrone: House passes bill to speed repair of blighted buildings
HARRISBURG, June 30 – State Rep. Tom Petrone, D-Allegheny, announced that the House of Representatives has passed a measure that would allow communities to combat the problem of buildings in disrepair.
Introduced by state Rep. Don Walko, D-Allegheny, the proposed Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship Act (H.B. 2188) would give common pleas judges more authority in tackling blight. The House Urban Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Petrone, played a significant role in the passage of the legislation by holding a public hearing on the bill in February and working with Walko to draft the bill.
"I'm pleased that my colleagues were able to see the importance of this issue and have sent the bill to the Senate," Petrone said. "Blighted properties are a nuisance to communities large and small, urban and rural, and I hope the Senate acts on this bill in a timely manner."
Under the bill, a common pleas judge could appoint a conservator to bring a building into municipal code compliance if the following conditions apply: the building has not been legally occupied for the previous 12 months; it has not been actively marketed for 60 days; the building is not subject to an existing foreclosure action; and the current owner fails to present sufficient evidence that he or she acquired the property in the previous six months.
"One abandoned or blighted property can be a drag on an entire block or neighborhood," Walko said. "My bill would make it easier to address this problem when the owners can't or won't do it. This legislation would apply if a building is in violation of municipal code requirements or has been declared a public nuisance."
Under the legislation, various people and organizations in a community would be able to file a petition in common pleas court to have a conservator appointed to rehabilitate residential, commercial and industrial buildings.
The court could authorize the sale of a building in conservatorship if the court finds that notice and an opportunity to comment was given to each owner of record and each lienholder, the conservator has been in control of the building for more than six months and the owner has not successfully petitioned to end the conservatorship, and that the potential buyer has a reasonable likelihood of maintaining the property.
The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
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