Redevelopment authority urges faster codes enforcement to use $2.3 million for blight rehab

The Williamsport Redevelopment Authority told City Council on May 22 it has about $2.3 million to rehab blighted properties but cannot move quickly without faster, certified code enforcement.

The authority’s representative, Jen Matts, told council the RDA and land bank have assembled contractors, appraisers and legal counsel and “we have approximately $2.3 million in grant funds available to refurbish blighted properties,” but said the city must first certify properties as blighted before the authority can take negotiation or eminent‑domain steps to acquire them.

Why it matters: the RDA estimates it can rehabilitate dozens of houses and return them to the tax rolls, increasing assessed value and producing new tax revenue for the city, county and schools. But Matts and board members said delays in codes citations and in the blighted‑property certification process are the binding constraint on using ARPA seed funds before the grant deadline.

At the presentation, Matts described four projects the authority has already advanced: a burned row house it rehabilitated and placed on the market (2169 Mosser/Mauser Avenue), a Park Avenue lot…