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AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND AND SUPPLEMENT TITLE XVIII, HOUSING CODE OF THE REVISED GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, 2000, AS AMENDED AND SUPPLEMENTED, BY ADDING CHAPTER 14, ESTABLISHMENT OF LAND BANK.
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WHEREAS, difficult economic conditions coupled with the continued high rate of foreclosures have significantly increased the number of vacant, abandoned, neglected and other problem properties (collectively "Vacant and Abandoned Properties") in the City of Newark; and
WHEREAS, the continued presence and proliferation of these Vacant and Abandoned Properties in the City of Newark has a negative effect on the public health, safety and welfare, reduces property values and municipal revenue, and impedes the economic growth, development and revitalization of the City; and
WHEREAS, presently, many Vacant and Abandoned, rather than being productively reused, remain vacant despite frequent changes in ownership, and create and continue to have a blighting effect on their surroundings; and
WHEREAS, the City of Newark can benefit from more effective tools to control the inventory of Vacant and Abandoned Properties, in order to both minimize the harm and danger that they create in their present condition, and to facilitate their restoration to productive use and economic growth; and
WHEREAS, in order to most effectively and efficiently engage the local community in identifying problem properties, the City of Newark can benefit from the publication of interactive online mapping databases of Vacant and Abandoned Properties; and
WHEREAS, to ensure that land banking activities are conducted in an honest and open manner, the public can also benefit from the inclusion of properties subject to land banking agreements within the interactive online mapping databases regardless of whether or not such properties are vacant and abandoned; and
WHEREAS, P.L. 2019, c.159 authorizes the City of Newark to establish a ...
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