Elizabeth Twp. reminds residents of Vacant Property Recovery program
By Christine Haines
chaines@yourmvi.com
Elizabeth Township residents have a limited amount of time to apply for Allegheny County’s Vacant Property Recovery program.
The program is designed to put vacant lots that are behind on taxes back on active tax rolls at a reduced cost to the applicant and to reduce blight in communities.
A maximum of five applicants from any one of the 48 eligible communities will be accepted through Sept. 30, on a first-come, first-served basis. Applicants must be current on their taxes and share a common property line with a lot that is vacant or contains a vacant structure scheduled to be torn down. The vacant property must be at least three years behind on taxes.
Greg Butler, assistant code enforcement officer for Elizabeth Township, has been working on a database of eligible properties. There are approximately 34 vacant lots in the township that would qualify for the program.
“Those are the ones we think are vacant and in very poor condition and most of them are delinquent,” Butler said. “We’re at the beginning stages of tracking our vacant and blighted properties to create a database.”
Butler said there are about 147 blighted properties in the township that he has a record of, but most don’t meet the criteria for the Side Yard program.
Butler said he and Code Officer John Snelson have tried to promote the Side Yard program.
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