The Board approved a resolution on Oct. 14 directing the transfer of county-owned surplus parcels to the DeKalb Regional Land Bank Authority for disposition and redevelopment.

County staff said the set includes 26 parcels distributed across several commissioner districts; a subset of the properties contains vacant structures in need of repair while others are vacant lots. The land bank and staff said transferring clear title to the land bank will allow competitive disposition for rehabilitation or construction of housing and return properties to the tax rolls. Under the land bank arrangement, a portion of the regained tax revenue is reserved for the land bank per the land-bank enabling agreements.

Director-level staff said the land bank uses an asset manager to survey candidate parcels and prioritize those that are viable for redevelopment or affordable-housing purposes. The board vote follows prior policy to expand the land bank's inventory and to accelerate conversion of county-owned blighted properties.

Why it matters: Transferring county-owned parcels to a land bank can speed cleanup, repurposing and the return of properties to productive use; purchases or rehabilitation of these lots may enable small-scale affordable housing projects or other community benefits.

Next steps: County and land-bank staff will follow land-bank procedures for title transfer and disposition; the land bank will market properties for sale, rehabilitation or community-oriented redevelopment and report back to the board as projects move forward.