Anti-blight bill approved by House subcommittee

RICHMOND

Help may soon be coming for cities in their fight against vacant, boarded-up buildings.

A bill with Portsmouth roots that targets blighted properties - shown by studies to attract crime and damage nearby home values - received a House subcommittee's unanimous approval Thursday.

Martha Ann Creecy and three friends from the Neighborhood Quality Task Force of Portsmouth left home at 5:30 a.m. to support the bill later in Richmond.

"People are clearly recognizing that derelict, blighted properties are at the root cause of some of our older neighborhoods' deteriorating," Creecy said after the subcommittee vote.

The bill's future looks bright. Del. Riley Ingram, R-Hopewell, who agreed Thursday to co-sponsor the measure, is chairman of the House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee - the panel that will consider the legislation next.

The anti-blight bill, HB1671, and its Senate counterpart, SB1094, define a building as derelict if it is vacant, boarded-up and isn't connected to utilities for six months. A city can order the owner to submit a plan to demolish or renovate, and then can qualify the owner for a tax credit for as long as 15 years.

The legislation allows cities to begin the court-ordered process to sell blighted properties after one year of tax delinquency instead of two.

The bill makes it easier for cities to act against blighted buildings and provides an incentive for owners to cooperate, said Mark Flynn of the Virginia Municipal League.

City officials from Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News have been some of the bill's most ardent supporters, Flynn said. Vacant homes are twice as prevalent in Norfolk and Portsmouth as they are in other Hampton Roads cities.

Dave Forster, (757) 477-6386, dave.forster@pilotonline.com