SB 645 Replaces Abandoned Blight with Prosperity, Philly Rule Change with No Cost to State – Technologist

WeConservePA staff sent a letter to senators expressing support for SB 645 adjusting adverse possession rules for Philadelphia to honor and accelerate private initiatives that convert abandoned, blighted properties to productive use. The letter is included below as text and as a linked PDF.

Link to PDF of letter

April 30, 2024

Honorable Member of the Pennsylvania Senate

Re. SB 645 replaces abandoned blight with prosperity
Philly rule change with no cost to state

Dear Senator:

On behalf of the 75 member organizations of WeConservePA and their more than 100,000 Pennsylvania members, I urge you to vote in the affirmative on SB 645. SB 645 passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on April 29 by a vote of 22-2.

More than 300,000 Philadelphia residents live on blocks with one or more abandoned houses or lots. These derelict buildings and parcels create terrible health, safety, and financial problems for neighborhoods. SB 645 would remove a serious impediment to residents putting their own energy and resources into turning many of these blights on communities into community assets. It would adjust adverse possession rules for Philadelphia to honor and accelerate private initiatives that convert abandoned, blighted properties to productive use.

More than 40,000 vacant lots burden Philadelphia residents. SB 645 would reduce the statutory period for adverse possession from twenty-one years to ten years for derelict lots that are redeveloped into gardens. This bill would allow individuals and organizations that have restored blighted lots and maintained them as gardens in communities for at least five years to pursue clear title. Reducing the statutory period to ten years would also place Pennsylvania in line with many other states that have shortened their statutory period.

SB 645 would help power the engine of private initiative and community energy to meaningfully address the vexing problem of blighted lots and do so without requiring government expenditures or other involvement.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Andrew M. Loza
Executive Director
cc: member organizations