Salem Disposition of City Owned Land Ordinance

The Salem City Council will consider an amended Disposition of City Owned Land Ordinance. The stated purpose of amending the existing ordinance is “to better align with state procurements requirements and to prioritize affordable housing”.

Under the current ordinance, the “quality of plan” and “purchase price” are the only criteria for selecting a proposed purchase of surplus City property. Adding to the “quality of plan” consideration, the amended ordinance would have the following criteria: affordable housing, capability of the developer, historic preservation (if the property has historic elements or value) and economic value (which replaces “purchase price”).

Additionally, the amended ordinance requires the City Council to declare any “public purpose” for which the City would accept a bid less than the appraised value of the surplus City property. The prioritized public purpose voted upon by the City Council would then be highlighted in the Request for Proposals.

Lastly, the new ordinance would permit tax title foreclosure properties to be exempted from the surplus property process and would instead follow the state requirements set forth in Massachusetts General Law Chapter 60. Under the current ordinance, properties acquired by the City through tax title foreclosures are subjected to the same surplus property process as conventional City-owned property.

The Salem City Council will discuss the proposed amendments at the next Council meeting. Updates will be posted on the NSR blog.