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Planning department outlines 'Places for People' infill strategy; land bank options include diversifying funding or scaling back
Summary
City planners presented the Places for People infill strategy, examples showing how modest infill can nearly double appraised values in pilot blocks, and an update on the land bank pilot (two properties sold to Habitat for Humanity). Staff outlined options including dissolving the land bank, diversifying funding, or maintaining it with adjusted meeting cadence.
Scott from the Planning Department presented the 'Places for People' urban-infill strategy and a status update on the city’s pilot land bank. He described the plan’s goals — stronger neighborhoods, walkable centers and targeted investment in areas of opportunity — and showed local mapping and return-on-investment examples designed to illustrate how modest infill can increase total appraised value and property productivity per acre.
On the land bank, staff summarized a pilot that used CDBG funding to acquire and clear two properties that were later sold to Habitat for Humanity. The presentation noted statutory and administrative friction around tax-sale procedures in Kansas that limit the land bank’s ability to abate noncity back taxes in some circumstances; staff said county tax-sale mechanics can result in back taxes being canceled when properties sell for less than the taxes and abatements owed.
Scott offered several next-step options for council consideration: dissolve the land bank and transfer functions to city departments (with the caveat that only a land bank can abate all taxing jurisdictions’ back taxes), diversify funding beyond CDBG to relieve program constraints, or maintain the land bank but reduce meeting frequency and explore partnerships with Sedgwick County and the state to improve acquisition during tax sales.
What council heard: Members expressed support for keeping a land bank function in some form but urged changes to make it more effective — notably diversifying funding and pursuing statutory or intergovernmental solutions to the tax-sale/abatement challenge. No formal decision was taken; staff will return with options and additional materials.
