The City of Arkansas City has been using multiple tools to help clean up vacant lots. Originally started in 2001 and resurrected again in 2017, Ark City created the Land Bank Program to efficiently acquire, manage and transform vacant, abandoned, nuisance, dangerous, and/or tax-foreclosed property into productive use in conformance with Kansas statutes and City Ordinances.
The 2001 version was created due to the 1998 flood. Many properties had to be bought out and the city then had an excess property to dispose of” said Josh White principal planner for Arkansas City.
The majority of the properties came from the flood buy out. There were some donated to the city. The city has also worked with a few property owners that had to have their homes demolished and acquired them through negotiations.
Through the Land Bank Program, Ark City has seen an increase in the tax base, reduced mowing by the city through due to code enforcement and dilapidated properties are being cleaned up and repurposed. Habitat for Humanity acquires many of the properties from the Land Bank Program well as single families for development.
In addition to the Land Bank Program, Ark City has seen success in helping people fix up their homes through the Neighborhood Revitalization Program. This program offers a tax rebate on the increased value due to improvements to properties. The city has an interlocal agreement with the s
chool district, Cowley College and the County that spells out how it works. Winfield also has a similar program. This program has also shown to attract area builders.
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