News
Announcement regarding the Land Bank's approved demolition projects: Governor DeWine Announces Demolition Plans for Over 2,200 Blighted Buildings in Ohio | Governor Mike DeWine
The State of Ohio’s Budget for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 (ORC122.6512) created a building demolition and site revitalization program. The purpose of this program is to award grants for the demolition of commercial and residential buildings and revitalization of surrounding properties on sites that are not brownfields.
The Logan County Land Reutilization Corporation, or Land Bank, applied for and received a $500,000 grant from the State of Ohio’s Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program for the demolition of approximately forty properties. Logan County was one of eighty-seven counties to receive at least $500,000 in grants. The Land Bank worked with local jurisdictions to determine properties appropriate for these grant funds. The Land Bank is preparing for the next steps required by this grant.
Logan County’s Land Reutilization Corporation was formed in August 2016. County Land Banks are special community improvement corporations committed to a public purpose. The Land Bank can put nonproductive properties back on the tax roll by taking control of vacant and abandoned tax delinquent properties. Ohio Revised Code enables a county to create a Land Bank and determines members of its board of Directors. By statute, the board includes two County Commissioners, the County Treasurer, a representative of the largest city, and an at-large representative. The offices of the Logan County Auditor and Prosecutor coordinate property matters with the Land Bank, and the LUC Regional Planning Commission is the Administrator.
In 2018 utilizing the Neighborhood Initiative Program, the Land Bank acquired six dilapidated properties and demolished the structures. In 2022, Logan County’s Land Reutilization Corporation applied for and received a $250,000 grant to clean up the former CW’s Service Station on State Route 117. Through a contract with BJAAM Environmental, Inc cleanup work is ongoing to this property.
The mission of the Land Bank is to improve the quality of life in Logan County by stabilizing neighborhoods. The Land Bank will accomplish this by focusing on the acquisition and redevelopment of vacant and blighted properties through partnerships with public and private entities, with an objective of restoring these lands to productive use in the community.