Daily Herald
DuPage County Board members passed a resolution Tuesday authorizing the creation of a land bank as part of a push to expand affordable housing.
The county has a “de facto” land bank through its “clean and lien” neighborhood revitalization program.
“We have inventoried land that we’ve received through our ‘clean and lien’ program, either through foreclosures or through gifts from property owners who simply don’t want to take care of their property anymore. They give it over to us,” said Paul Hoss, the county’s planning and zoning administration coordinator.
In addition to setting up a county land bank, officials also plan to partner with an established nonprofit that could help find developers, among other roles.
“Maintaining the land bank internally gives us the internal controls to address our own unique needs in our community, while partnering with the community land trust gives us the expertise on the development portion and the programming that these folks have already started working … with other communities,” said Jeremy Custer, the county’s senior adviser.
