City of Salem director outlines housing auction, land bank and port development plans

Sean Brown, the city of Salem's director of housing and economic development, provided a status update to the Salem County commissioners about city housing and economic-development efforts, including a planned property auction, land-bank formation and outreach for food-access grants.

Brown said the city currently holds about 256 properties and has roughly 110 properties on a foreclosure list; some parcels are occupied by long-term squatters. He said the first auction this year will include at least 50 properties, with MaxSpan auction company to present on May 7 and the auction to run over four days ending May 21. He also described ongoing work with the authority on a land bank to provide targeted investment for properties requiring significant rehabilitationand said the land-bank contract was expected to be finalized by the end of the summer.

Brown said he and city leaders had signed letters of support for applicants seeking New Jersey feed grant funding to bring local food options to Salem, noting Salem ranks high on a state food-desert index for South Jersey and that the city aims to bring both short- and long-term solutions to improve access to healthy food.

On economic development and the port, Brown described efforts to activate Salem's port and to partner with the South Jersey Port Corporation and county leaders to secure federal support for dredging and other infrastructure work required to accommodate larger vessels, which he said would create additional local jobs. He also said the city is coordinating with the county and other partners on landfill activation projects and neighborhood housing initiatives (including donated properties for Habitat for Humanity).

Brown asked for continued county partnership and said the city is pursuing both short-term and strategic, longer-term projects to increase housing and jobs in Salem.