Council gets seven more Land Bank sale requests as frustration over vacant lots grows

Every time the Philadelphia Land Bank wants to sell or transfer a vacant lot, City Council has to approve it, and a councilmember has to introduce the legislation. The Land Bank exists to turn tax-delinquent and city-owned land back into homes, gardens and businesses. A Philadelphia Tribune report this month found that residents and community groups think that process moves too slowly.

On Oct. 22, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker sent Council seven more sale requests. Our records show what happened next.

What the Tribune found

• The city has about 40,000 vacant lots. Most are privately owned, and the city controls about 8,000.
• The Land Bank was created in 2013. Officials said at an April 2025 budget hearing that it had helped redevelop 1,017 properties.
• There is no public system for residents or councilmembers to track a lot through the process.
• 8th District Councilmember Cindy Bass said the Land Bank "doesn't feel very effective." Parker said the city is not accepting vacant, blighted lots as the status quo.
• The city budget adds $15 million for the Land Bank, alongside the mayor's $800 million housing bond plan.

The Oct. 22 requests

The mayor's letters name the properties and the district each sits in:

• 2nd District: 1306 S. 28th St. (Communication 260878)
• 3rd District: 5228-5230 Chester Ave., 5415 Florence Ave. and 322 N. 41st St. (260879, 260880, 260881)
• 4th District: more than 60 addresses on Dover, Newkirk, 28th, 29th, Silver, Sterner and Seltzer streets (260882)
• 5th District: about two dozen addresses on N. 19th, N. 20th, Uber, Berks and Norris streets (260884)
• 8th District: 17 addresses on Belfield Avenue and Bouvier, Rockland, Mentor and Courtland streets (260885)

A separate letter, 260883, would move 903 Rising Sun Ave. to the Redevelopment Authority and then the Land Bank.

What our records add

The same day, three district members introduced matching resolutions:

• Jamie Gauthier: 260903, 260904, 260905
• Curtis Jones Jr.: 260906
• Jeffery Young Jr.: 260908

As of today, our records show no matching resolution for the 2nd District lot (Council President Kenyatta Johnson) or the 8th District package (Cindy Bass). The five that were filed are listed "In Council" with no vote yet.

Compare that to recent batches. On Sept. 17, the mayor sent eight sale requests (260677 through 260684). District members filed matching resolutions the same day, and Council adopted all eight on Sept. 24. One of those was the 2nd District's 260716, sponsored by Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson and Johnson. A single request sent Oct. 1, for 2751 Kensington Ave., was adopted Oct. 8 as Squilla's 260826. So in this fall's records, a filed request has usually been adopted a week later.

This is the step the Tribune described: because a district member must introduce each transfer, the paper reported, the 10 district members have significant influence over Land Bank sales in their districts.

Related hearings

Bass also led Resolution 260870, adopted Oct. 15 with 15 sponsors. It authorizes the Committee on Licenses and Inspections to hold hearings on the upkeep, inspection, enforcement and demolition of deteriorating and unsafe properties. No hearing date is on our calendar. The committee's Oct. 28 meeting lists only one bill, on boat noise.

What's next

Council meets Thursday, Oct. 29. Watch whether the five filed resolutions come up for adoption, and whether resolutions for the 2nd and 8th District properties appear.