Corner Store Analysis

[atek101]

I don't even understand the context that insult and I think it's uncalled for. It's hard to take you seriously if you can't be civil on this board.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Weasel, if you and your boyfriend take of your dress, sorry your mask, I will give you and answer.

[woozle]

The Mahoning County website does not show records back that far and I really don't care how long they have been delinquent.  You own the property and those properties are your responsibility.  Why do you own all of these properties? Did they once have homes?  Were they rental properties and you can no longer make any money on them?  Were they a bad investment?  What ever the excuse is, they are your responsibility.  The taxes on the home where you live are delinquent.  Oh, that's right, that one is not in your name, its Bill's responsibility even though you want to take the credit for the rehab and preservation of it.  Give me a break.....there is always someone else to blame for your problems.

Ummm Shrimpy did you miss this question or you just don't have a good "Honest" answer to reply?

[AllanY2525]

I would love to see more neighborhood gardens planted on the vacant lots in
the city - especially those that are adjacent to "corner stores". 

[Towntalk]

His family was responsible for having two dilapidated houses torn down, and expanded his parking area, a great improvement.

Hopefully the burnt building will also come down sooner than later.

By the way we're fortunate here with neighbors who have taken it on themselves to care for vacant lots, keeping the grass mowed, and in one planting a garden.

[AllanY2525]

Towntalk,

It's really sad to read about the fire in that adjacent building.  The report states that
there was only about $1,000 in damage to the building - and yet the firefighters
fell through the floor during the blaze??

That adjacent building must really be in bad shape.  It would be great if the city would
[carefully] take it down, without damaging the store that shares the party-wall with it.
It would certainly make the appearance of the exterior better for the neighborhood
store owner.

You are right on point about this gentleman's store - he's a good guy, and an asset
to the neighborhood - not a detriment.

:/

[Youngstownshrimp]

Atek, very well written and you are correct.  It is good to see there can be honest intelligent debate in this forum.  My biggest gripe with the MVOC is that they refuse to debate their dreams with the professionals who know, ala' the Landlord Ass., Gary Crim perhaps?

That being said, it is refreshing to hear you say exactly what needs to be done.  What I am saying, is the vehicle to do all this is in place and has been available with numerous programs.  The tax cert. sales by our county, done, and has put many non-taxpaying property back on the paying rosters.  Let me give you and example, the new Phantom fireworks location was assembled by my team and provided.  This parcel is made up of 100's of 40' lots that were used as a dump. V&M Star is expanding into Girard on land that sat idle for many decades.  The facts are that if there was usage for land in YTown, it would have been gone already.  Money flows like water, it seeks it's own level.

Now, I read the discrp. of this new hybrid landbank,  there is no guarantee and all it really does is create a large bureaucracy manned by Acorn look alikes. Fortunately for America, we have no money and we have to rethink what is productive and what isn't.

[Towntalk]

Update via WKBN-TV

Fire Damages Vacant Commercial Building

http://www.wkbn.com/content/news/local/story/Fire-Damages-Vacant-Commercial-Building/w9k4p7EWr0uI-fly37ayFQ.cspx

[Towntalk]

Fire at a building at Elm and Thornton that when last occupied was a Pharmacy.

Right next to it is a neighborhood grocery store, and just a wall seperates them.

No doubt that the store will have to trash all their groceries due to smoke damage.

It's a shame since the grocer is a good man who not only has good products, but his store is crime free, and cares about his customers.

[atek101]

Youngstownshrimp, it still makes more sense to have a land bank that is a one-stop-shop for consolidating and distributing this land with clear titles than to have it entangled in years worth of paperwork left to the whims of the global market. Sure, you can get the land, and believe me, there are takers. However, much of the vacant land is so tied up in red tape, judgment liens, and tax delinquencies that it often deters legitimate investment from touching the properties. At least with the land bank, it's the city or county working as a unit to clear the titles of these properties to make it easier for legitimate investors to acquire the land. A land bank can also ensure that the property is distributed to people with an actual business plan to re-utilize it.

I live next to a house that was vacant and an absentee landlord bought it up with the interest of rehabbing it several years ago. He went through the process of clearing the title, but hasn't been up once in years to inspect, maintain, or secure the property. Eventually, the city ended up bulldozing it because it had become a horrible eyesore and a dumping ground. He still owns the land and has done nothing with it. That's not a knock on all absentee landlords, as we have some in my neighborhood that are doing a decent job. My point is that if he had purchased that property through a functioning land bank, he would have had to develop a legitimate business plan to improve the property in order to acquire it. He also could have been held accountable for -not- improving the property by losing any incentives gained when he acquired it. If the land bank had owned that property, I might have some neighbors by now instead of what will soon become an overgrown lot full of bugs, rats, trash and tires in the spring.

There needs to be some measure of organized control and redistribution of vacant property within the city and county in order to ensure that the property doesn't just end up vacant a second time around.

[Shar]

Shar, if you did your homework, you will see that majority of the parcels were non-taxpaying BEFORE I WAS BORN.  Here's and offer, I and other parcel owners will GIVE you the unproductive parcels and you pay the taxes and make them productive.  When do you want them, they are worthless and a liability?

The Mahoning County website does not show records back that far and I really don't care how long they have been delinquent.  You own the property and those properties are your responsibility.  Why do you own all of these properties? Did they once have homes?  Were they rental properties and you can no longer make any money on them?  Were they a bad investment?  What ever the excuse is, they are your responsibility.  The taxes on the home where you live are delinquent.  Oh, that's right, that one is not in your name, its Bill's responsibility even though you want to take the credit for the rehab and preservation of it.  Give me a break.....there is always someone else to blame for your problems.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Shar, if you did your homework, you will see that majority of the parcels were non-taxpaying BEFORE I WAS BORN.  Here's and offer, I and other parcel owners will GIVE you the unproductive parcels and you pay the taxes and make them productive.  When do you want them, they are worthless and a liability?

[Youngstownshrimp]

Freeing this land up from people who are delinquent on taxes and not maintaining their properties and putting it in the hands of new and responsible private developers will bring great rewards in both tax revenues and property values over the long term. The fact that you oppose community organizing and claim to own a significant amount of vacant land admittedly makes me question your motives in this situation.

Atek, you are the first who is beginning to get it.  Most of the unproductive property in YTown can be freed up for production, but there are NO TAKERS.  Right now you can go to the City of YTown and request land from them and they will bend over backwards to accomodate you.  Again, the land is available, I just completed the tax forefeiture of 34 acres on the eastside for a group of doctors who will use the land for agriculture and hopefully gas, who will pay taxes on the land because they they feel they can make the land productive.  Again, the MVOC and CDA's outcry that we need another landbank to get all this land to be productive is not true.  The land is already available "en masse", we need the end user.  You mentioned private developers will make the land taxpaying, my question to you is where are they?  Our efforts need to be to bring them in, the land is available.

[Shar]

Let's face it, the days of ACORN type community organizing have passed.  Across the nation they have been exposed for what they really are, the amassing of a socialist voting block.  A voting block that is usurping the principals of free enterprise.   Americans are tired of the entitled, we don't want another landbank, we want the seeds to grow something on our land, to produce something that we can sell and in return better ourselves and the community.  If all the vacant land in Youngstown produced something, there would be taxes flowing.  This is why the founding fathers set property taxes as a liability of the property not the individual.  Community must lift up the value of it's property for it to provide a return.  Ninety percent of vacant land in the YTown are non-taxpaying, because we failed to make it pay for itself.   For that matter, the largest non taxpaying landholding entity in this City is the City.  And not to besmirch anyone, even Mt. Calvary owns tax delinquent property , this does not mean thay are bad people.
No entity can afford to pay taxes on unproductive land.

If the MVOC is convinced that they can make land productive again with a new landbank, I will offer them 20 vacant lots right now for their urban agriculture project.  And if they need more, I am sure most of the other struggling land owners in the City will add more.  It's easy to talk about it when you have a salary whether you grow things or not.

Shrimp...I just checked the Mahoning County website and it looks like you have 64 parcels in your name that are non-tax paying.  How can you possibly be critical of others when you are a part of the problem?  Why don't you pay your taxes??  I centainly pay mine!! 

[atek101]

Youngstownshrimp, real, genuine community organizing has been a great benefit to my neighborhood on the North Side. It helped bring neighborhood residents together to tackle issues that we were each struggling with independently and has most certainly not established a "socialist voting block," it's established a strong and legitimate interest group. It has brought private people, businesses, institutions, and landlords together to pursue active solutions to problems in the neighborhood that are a hindrance to sustainable private development and investment, such as crime, unsecured vacant properties, etc.

We -absolutely- need a functional land bank system in Youngstown and Mahoning County. Land banks take unused land from the hands of people who have neglected it for years and open up that land for -new- private investment, whether it be for residential, commercial, institutional, or industrial use. Freeing this land up from people who are delinquent on taxes and not maintaining their properties and putting it in the hands of new and responsible private developers will bring great rewards in both tax revenues and property values over the long term. The fact that you oppose community organizing and claim to own a significant amount of vacant land admittedly makes me question your motives in this situation.