There are 31 article(s) tagged Blight:
The City’s more aggressive stance on blighted properties is focused on taking court cases to Chancery Court instead of Environmental Court. The funding would fuel that effort and could be sustained with money from the sale of properties out of receivership.
The council also voted on a slate of ordinances, including a $300 fee to go with the tax bill of owners of blighted properties the city has to clean up.
“We have over 10,000 abandoned homes in disrepair, with overgrown yards, piles of trash, and more. It’s time to shift accountability back to where it belongs and make neglectful property owners pay up.”
Ben Schulman writes that “a land-value tax (LVT), an old idea gaining new currency to unlock the potential for more equitable development outcomes, could be the catalyst for revitalizing underutilized areas across Memphis.”
The Hickory Hill One Memphis forum is the seventh since Mayor Paul Young took office this past January.
Young said in an interview on WKNO-TV’s “Behind the Headlines” the budget will be “more firmed up” in the coming months. He will take a budget proposal to the Memphis City Council in May.
Tauheed Rahim II, a native Memphian and artist-in-residence at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., circulated a petition to maintain his rights to a problem property where his mother used to live near St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“Blight, litter, dilapidated housing, and poor air quality pose problems for public safety. Public safety extends far beyond crime. Litter and trash indicate community apathy and gives license to potential criminals,” the survey’s results read.
“We have been dealing with tires for a very long time, and it is a major epidemic in our community,” said council member Rhonda Logan, who chaired the city’s Blight and Illegal Dumping Task Force.
A working group, chaired by Memphis City Councilwoman Rhonda Logan, has met monthly since last summer to draft guidance for the city on used tires, solid waste, beautification, Environmental Court and community outreach.
The resolution, which would ask the Tennessee Legislature and Gov. Bill Lee to change state law, is an alternative to a registry of rental property owners.
The city is adding a convenience dumpster site soon at Collins Yard and next year, plans to roll out artificial intelligence tracking to address blight and illegal dumping.
The council also discussed the riverfront’s Cobblestone Landing, a blight and illegal dumping task force and police escorts for Donald Trump’s Southaven speech.
The ballot question would be the second amending the city charter in this election year. Also on the budget are Memphis Area Transit Authority funding and the city’s blight problem.
Concerns about absentee landlords have led Olive Branch and other DeSoto County cities to look at ordinances to control blight.
The Tuesday council session includes discussion about proposed home improvement grants, an extension of the contract with the company that runs Liberty Bowl stadium for the city and a delay until June 15 on final votes that would set the city budget and property tax rate.
Blighted properties cost the city, rather than bringing in tax revenue. The city pays dearly for police, fire, board-up, lot clearing and other services required for abandoned properties.
Meanwhile, the council delayed for two weeks a first reading vote on historic overlay district status for the Crosstown area.
A City Council committee took no action on Lorenzo Williams' $600,000 plan and wants to have further discussions on the proposal before doing so.
The plan, which may be considered by city government later this month, would address blight in an area near Northgate Shopping Center.
The neighborhood cleanup is part of Shelby County's proposal to bring sanitation services to the area.
A Houston-based business consultant is proposing a solution to blighted and vacant properties in northwest Frayser after touring the neighborhood several months ago.
Shelby County officials presented their plan to provide garbage collection service for Northaven residents at a community meeting Tuesday night.
Northaven residents would pay about $27 a month if the county rolls out a garbage collection service in the area for the first time.
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