Program to Seize Blighted Youngstown Properties a Success - WKBN


It’s been two years since Youngstown first started using new laws to take over abandoned properties through a program called spot blight eminent domain. 

The program has worked, for example, on a house on Glenwood Avenue that was dilapidated. Youngstown City Council took control from out-of-town owners, seized the property and turned it over to the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC). YNDC spent a year fixing everything from the roof to the foundation, and it’s now on the market. “I was concerned about this whole project, but I’m really pleased with the overall outcome,” said Councilwoman Anita Davis, 6th Ward. “This is something that benefits the whole community. We don’t want something to be left behind, not taken care of and then it totally pulls down the entire area.” Tiffany Sokol, with YNDC, says the law worked well in this case. “It is certainly another opportunity for us to acquire vacant and blighted properties that are in the cycle of abandonment” Sokol said. To read the full story from WKBN, click here.