Lackawanna County Land Bank approves conveyances, reviews blight and side‑lot requests in Scranton

The Lackawanna County Land Bank board approved three resolutions to acquire and convey properties and reviewed several property disposition requests at its Sept. 10, 2025 meeting in Scranton.

The board approved the minutes of its Aug. 13 meeting and vouchers dated Aug. 14 through Sept. 10, then heard staff updates and applicant requests on land bank parcels, followed by votes on three resolutions related to acquisition and conveyance.

Ralph, a land bank staff member, presented the land bank disposition packet and described individual parcel applications. He said the parcel at 524 West Market Street in Scranton (PIN as presented in the packet) drew a purchase application from Lynn Warmoth of 211 Lane Street in German, who offered $500 and indicated she would maintain the property as green space. Ralph noted the application was received before the last board meeting, when the board had discussed raising an offer cap to $600.

William Griffiths of 100 Ben Bengar Drive submitted a side‑lot application for an adjacent bridal lot on Bingar Drive (PIN given in the packet) and offered $200 to extend his yard under the land bank’s side‑lot program, Ralph said.

Ralph also summarized three properties taken in for the city’s stormwater mitigation project in Kaiser Valley: parcels on Bridal Street, North Dexter Avenue and North Cameron Avenue. He said the city requested the land bank accept the parcels to secure permanent easements for stormwater infrastructure.

On blight, Ralph said staff and city code and blight officials visited properties at 1409 Watson Street and 1433 Fellow Street. He reported the consensus was that 1409 Watson Street cannot be economically rehabilitated because the only bathroom is in a basement and any code‑compliant retrofit would require an addition; the house would likely be demolished and the land sold as a vacant lot once cleared. At 1433 Fellow Street, Ralph said three structures exist: Agency for Community Empowerment (ACE) has expressed interest in rehabilitating one four‑bedroom, two‑bath structure; the other two structures are beyond reasonable rehab and are expected to be demolished with the city and land bank coordinating removal.

Ralph provided a cumulative conveyance tally to date: 404 properties conveyed countywide and 282 conveyed inside the city of Scranton. He listed conveyances to date to several recipients, including three properties conveyed to the city, three to United Neighborhood Community Development Corporation, five to a Scranton resource development entity described as a subsidiary of the Agency for Community Empowerment, and one to the Ronald McDonald House. Ralph also provided counts by Scranton neighborhood and by township/borough (detailed in the land bank packet).

The board then voted separately on three resolutions. The board approved Resolution No. 25‑030, authorizing the acquisition of additional properties from the tax claim repository list of unsold properties. The board approved Resolution No. 25‑031, authorizing conveyances under the property purchase program; one board member recused from that vote because the parcel involved a relative, producing an abstention reported as one abstention and five yes votes. The board approved Resolution No. 25‑032, authorizing conveyances under the side‑lot program; Sherry abstained from that vote.

Board members and staff indicated they will continue coordinating with the City of Scranton and ACE on demolition and rehabilitation plans for the blighted properties and will prepare documentation for a Thornhurst parcel a resident has offered to sell to the land bank for the next meeting.

Votes at a glance

- Minutes of Aug. 13, 2025: approved (voice vote). - Vouchers Aug. 14–Sept. 10, 2025: approved (voice vote). - Resolution 25‑030 (acquisition from tax claim repository): approved. - Resolution 25‑031 (conveyance under property purchase program): approved; tally reported in meeting: 5 yes, 1 abstention (recusal by a board member who stated the parcel involved a relative). - Resolution 25‑032 (conveyance under side‑lot program): approved; Sherry abstained.

The board scheduled its next meeting for Oct. 8, 2025, at 11 a.m. on the fifth floor of the county office building at 123 Wyoming Avenue.

The meeting included a brief public item noting a Thornhurst property owner who may offer a lot for sale to the land bank; staff said paperwork will be prepared for the next meeting.