In the coming months, the city of Emporia will continue its work on several major projects. One of those will be a land bank.
City Commissioner Rob Gilligan says the overall goal is to revitalize what he calls the core of Emporia as the housing infrastructure gets older.
Gilligan says some properties could be developed by adjoining landowners in what’s called a sidelot sale. They could also turn into an infill construction project or community gardens — or it could be held in case other nearby properties could be acquired for a larger development project.
The tentative structure will have a 7-person board of trustees, likely the Community Housing Board, overseeing requests with the goal of finding “the highest and best use” for the property. Gilligan says there is a fairly wide variance in how other cities have set up their land banks.
The current plan would have interested people fill out an application detailing their projected uses for the land. If there are competing offers, the land bank board would then decide the best use for the property.
The city may finalize the processes involved in early 2019.
