Atlanta, GA
Atlanta city leaders consider use of city funds to buy blighted properties
City council working on new plan for blighted properties
City leaders are considering a plan to purchase blighted properties using city funds. The council has already approved a ‘blight tax.’ FOX 5’s Joi Dukes has the story.
ATLANTA – In an ongoing effort to clean up Atlanta’s streets, city leaders are now considering plans to purchase blighted properties from owners who’ve failed to upkeep them over the years.
Last week, council members approved a “blight tax” that would penalize those property owners. The other idea that came up was using city funds to take the abandoned properties off their hands completely.
“There are a lot of options on the table for the city when it comes to property development,” Atlanta City Member of council Michael Bond said.
Bond says first responders being called to emergencies at abandoned properties is a common and costly occurrence.
“Responding to vagrants on the property, responding to fires, responding to illegal dumping…that’s a real cost to the city of Atlanta,” he explained.
That’s why he and other members of the city council are considering buying those properties back from neglectful owners.
“What has been discussed is that the city of Atlanta will make an offer to these property owners just to do a general transaction…if someone is not able or willing to maintain their property to keep it in a productive use, the City of Atlanta would try to acquire that property,” Bond said.
Atlanta’s blight tax on properties passes | What you need to know
Bond says it could save the city millions of dollars in the long term and give lower income residents more options for housing that’s within their means.
“Depending on the shape of the property and how much it might cost to rehab…that might be a site we could use for the development of more affordable housing throughout our city,” he stated.
One potential plan is to place the properties in the possession of urban housing authorities or go through the bidding process to select private developers.
Bond says the city cannot use eminent domain to take the old housing properties and redevelop them into new housing because of Georgia state code. City leaders will continue discussions about this at their next meeting.
A program that teaches young Atlantans how to ride bikes suffered a major loss this week, after thieves emptied a storage trailer, making off with 26 bikes and 24 helmets.
The “Shifting Gears” program helps young cyclists learn how to navigate city streets on two wheels from an early age — particularly in underserved communities that suffer from high rates of traffic injuries and fatalities.
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An Atlanta nonprofit is asking the public for help after it was the victim of a brazen theft earlier this week.
Propel ATL said that thieves cleared out an entire trailer of bicycles meant for underprivileged kids sometime on Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
Jeremiah Jones, the nonprofit’s advocacy manager, said that someone broke into the trailer and took 26 bikes and 24 helmets.
The equipment was part of a program that gives bikes to children from low-income schools and teaches them how to ride.
“My heart sank when I got the call that all the bikes were gone. I said, ‘Surely not all of them.’ And all of them are gone,” Jones said. “This class is solely for kids, and this crime is affecting them.”
Atlanta police are reviewing security footage from the area. Jones said you could see people taking the bikes out of the trailer, carrying them down a hill, and bringing them into a nearby parking lot.
The nonprofit is now trying to raise more than $10,000 to replace the bikes.
Propel ATL is also asking who may have information about the theft to contact them at programs@letspropelatl.org.
A man was arrested at a concert last week after he shoved two kids off their bicycles, causing one of them to fall into a fountain, Sandy Springs police said. FOX 5 Atlanta’s Brittany Edney reporting.
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