Council approves first reading to transfer 19 city parcels to Land Reuse Agency for Lower Greenmont work

The Morgantown City Council on Tuesday approved on first reading an ordinance to transfer 19 underused city-owned parcels to the Morgantown Land Reuse and Preservation Agency, a step the agency says is intended to assemble contiguous lots for green space and future housing in Lower Greenmont.

The move matters because the agency has been working to assemble small, scattered parcels so developers or neighborhood leaders can create compact projects; council members approved the first reading by a 7-0 roll call vote and sent the ordinance to second reading.

Jessica McDonald, who identified herself as a representative of the Land Reuse and Preservation Agency, told the council the agency was created by ordinance in February 2018 and summarized the board’s priorities. “The mission is to pursue the acquisition, management, and disposition of property that’s suitable for conservation, water quality protection, public space, affordable housing, and commercial uses,” McDonald said. She described a two-part approach in Lower Greenmont: a triangular set of parcels near Deckers Creek for green space and a contiguous block assembled for potential housing.

McDonald said the agency has most of the area under contract and anticipates accumulating 24 parcels totaling about 2.4 acres “for just a little bit over a million dollars.” She said the city previously allocated about $600,000 in ARPA funds toward addressing blight in Lower Greenmont and that the agency’s goal is to use that money and assembled land to attract developers and preserve green space.

The agency described several programs it plans to pursue, including a side-lot program to sell small lots to adjacent homeowners, a targeted property-donation campaign aimed at owners of vacant buildings with large liens, and efforts to flip underused parcels back onto the tax rolls. McDonald also said the agency is coordinating with Urban Design Ventures and has consulted with other West Virginia land-reuse programs in Charleston and Nitro for models and technical assistance.

Councilors asked about next steps and funding. McDonald and council members emphasized that the agency is not self-sustaining and will need city project-by-project funding or designation of existing revenue streams to operate at scale. Councilors also asked the agency to coordinate neighborhood outreach on design ideas for any housing or park projects.

Mayor Joe Abugano called for the ordinance’s second reading; the council agreed to move it forward. The transfer now proceeds to a required second reading and any needed documentary corrections noted by staff.

The city will return to the transfer topic at the next meeting for final action and documentary cleanup identified during the first-reading packet review.