LIMA — The Allen County Land Bank should not have to worry about a new state law that bans the use of plywood in boarding up vacant houses, according to their legal counsel.
The law, which requires polycarbonate sheeting to be used instead of plywood, would have greatly increased the cost of preparing properties for demolition, according to Allen County Treasurer Rachael Gilroy.
“That had the potential to quadruple our costs for the project,” she said. “It would have inhibited all the other demolitions that we hope to have done, as well.”
The rationale for exempting the land bank is that since the land bank aims to clean up blighted properties in order to increase home values, it does not apply to the law’s goals to reduce plywood boarding, which can lead to decreased neighborhood property values.
The land bank currently has 11 properites in its pipeline and aims to have 90 properties by May.
