Baltimore City Council
File #: 07-0302R    Version: 0 Name: Informational Hearing - Project SCOPE and Project 5000
Type: City Council Resolution Status: Adopted
File created: 6/4/2007 In control: Dept. of Housing and Community Development
On agenda: Final action: 11/19/2007
Enactment #:
Title: Informational Hearing - Project SCOPE and Project 5000 FOR the purpose of inviting the Commissioner of Housing to share with the City Council the current status of Project SCOPE and Project 5000 and to discuss the effect these programs have had on decreasing the number of vacant and abandoned properties that blight our Baltimore City neighborhoods.
Sponsors: Stephanie President Rawlings-Blake, President Young, Helen L. Holton, Nicholas C. D'Adamo, James B. Kraft, Robert Curran, Keiffer Mitchell, Sharon Green Middleton, Mary Pat Clarke, Edward Reisinger, Belinda Conaway
Indexes: Project 5000, Project SCOPE, Resolution
Attachments: 1. 07-0302R - 1st Reader.pdf, 2. 07-0302R - Adopted.pdf

* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.

THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.

                     INTRODUCTORY*

 

                     CITY OF BALTIMORE

                     COUNCIL BILL           R

                     (Resolution)

                                                                                                                                                           

Introduced by: President Rawlings-Blake

                                                                                                                                                            

                     A RESOLUTION ENTITLED

 

A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning

Title

Informational Hearing - Project SCOPE and Project 5000

 

FOR the purpose of inviting the Commissioner of Housing to share with the City Council the current status of Project SCOPE and Project 5000 and to discuss the effect these programs have had on decreasing the number of vacant and abandoned properties that blight our Baltimore City neighborhoods.

Body

                     Recitals

 

Project SCOPE (Selling City Owned Properties Efficiently), approved by City officials in early 2003, was proposed by BEEF (Baltimore Efficiency and Economy Foundation), a nonprofit foundation focused on reducing waste in City government.  Encouraging government to use methods proven successful in the private sector, SCOPE officials, with the support of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors and the Goldseker Foundation, designed a cooperative endeavor in which it was agreed that real estate agents would be paid an 8% commission or a $2,500 fee, whichever was higher, for each property sold.  Most of the properties in Project SCOPE are in poorer neighborhoods and are vacant and in need of a extensive repair.

 

In January 2004, after working for 2 years to get title to thousands of vacant houses, Baltimore City housing officials announced the implementation of the next phase of the renewal plan, known as Project 5000, that would provide for the sale of 2,250 derelict homes immediately and the sale of an equal amount 6 months later.  The sale to private owners or donation for redevelopment to community groups, individuals, or non-profits of 6000 properties exceeded by 1000 the original goal of Project 5000.

 

Project SCOPE and Project 5000 are both aimed at reducing the number of vacant properties, estimated to be approximately 15,000, in early 2000, that threaten the quality of life in neighborhoods across Baltimore City.  The success of both of these projects is not only the acquisition of vacant and abandoned properties, but the return of those properties to productive use and to the property tax base that supports the many services the City provides to its citizens and visitors.

 

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Commissioner of Housing is invited to share with the City Council the current status of Project SCOPE and Project 5000 and to discuss the effect these programs have had on decreasing the number of vacant and abandoned properties that blight our Baltimore City neighborhoods.

 

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Commissioner of Housing, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.

 

                     

 

 

 

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