Springfield gearing up for land bank

Steve Childers: Multiple departments have been preparing for land bank law to go live.

Inside the Missouri State Capitol, a measure to allow the creation of municipal land banks was passed on the last day of the legislative session and now awaits the signature of Gov. Mike Kehoe.

Here in Springfield, within the hallways of the Busch Municipal Building, Steve Childers, director of Planning and Development, is getting ready to roll.

He’s had some lead time. Land bank legislation was signed into law once before, in 2024, then overturned the following year by a Cole County judge who found the legislation invalid because it violated the state’s single-subject rule. The omnibus bill included eight unrelated amendments, including a provision upholding the rights of homeowners to maintain backyard chickens.

Childers said city staff have been planning for Springfield’s version of a land bank since the previous measure was passed. If the governor signs the new bill into law, municipalities’ land banks can go into effect as early as Aug. 28.

The legislation, Senate Bill 973, was sponsored by Sen. Curtis Trent, R-Springfield, and was identical to House Bill 2898, sponsored by Rep. Bill Owen, R-Springfield.

Asked if a land bank would serve mainly as a tool for housing, neighborhood stabilization or economic development, Childers’ response was, “All of the above.”

“The main thing that we’re focused on is repurposing vacant lots,” he said.

Childers said the city can identify lots with nuisance issues that cause destabilization in neighborhoods, and the land bank can serve as a tool to allow it to acquire those properties for housing or other purposes. That can be through for-profit or not-for-profit developers, he said.

“I think the intent of the land bank is the speed up the process,” he said. “We’re digging a little bit more into that. It really is a legal question.”

Bob Atchley, Springfield principal planner, said where possible, the land bank itself can buy or otherwise acquire property, simplifying the current processes for acquiring nuisance properties or tax-delinquent ones. He said the governor has up to 45 days to either sign or veto the bill.

“We can’t take most of these steps until this formally becomes law,” he said.

Childers said the city owns vacant surplus properties, many of which it acquired through the nuisance abatement process.

“It all begins at the nuisance phase,” he said. “You’ve got a problem property – it’s abandoned or there’s something wrong with it; maybe vagrancy is occurring.”

If someone does occupy the vacant property, problems can occur. For instance, a cold winter day could result in destruction of a building by a fire someone built to keep warm inside. The result is something the city has to deal with, Childers said.

The mindset used to be one of cleaning up problem properties and of wondering what to do with them.

“Now, it’s more like, ‘Hey, I know, let’s do this with it,’” he said.

The city is trying to create a “clearer, consistent process for dealing with these properties,” he added.

He said that his department used to refer to the disposal of property as the surplus property process.

“There was really no follow-up as to what was going to go on it, or how it was going to be utilized,” he said. “We’re trying to restructure that program into the land bank program, and it will have a lot more specificity to it.”

Land bank setup
Childers said the land bank comes with some requirements. For instance, the city has to create a website that can serve as an information bank or clearinghouse for city properties. Through it, private investors will be able to see property that is available and move through the process of acquiring it.

“Eventually, maybe all surplus properties will eventually be in the land bank process that we’re creating,” he said.

Childers said several departments are working together on the city’s land bank policy. That includes the Finance Department and its Purchasing Division, which are creating a process to transfer ownership. The city attorney is also weighing in. Childers said it is possible that City Council will have to approve conveyances.

Atchley said council will have to form a land bank board, which will be authorized to make many of the decisions for properties, but he said the legal authority of the board is a detail yet to be worked out and understood.

Childers said the city will have the flexibility to put property in its land bank to the highest and best use, rather than basing decisions solely on the price the land can command. He said the board will be able to weigh in on the type of use that will work well and be compatible with the neighborhood.

Childers said he is pleased with the progress the city has made where a possible land bank is concerned.

“I think we’ve made a lot of headway,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of conversations.”

Developer opportunity
As the program evolves, he said, the land bank will likely focus on more than just housing. A recent leadership visit to Cincinnati through the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce offered a model of a land redevelopment program that explored mixed uses and neighborhood redevelopment, often through public-private partnerships between the city and developers.

“This has great potential to be something that’s a better tool than we’ve had before,” he said.

Childers added that the city may be able to provide incentives, particularly when larger properties or multiple adjoining tracts are involved.

“When we’ve just got onesies and twosies scattered about, it gets a little tougher,” he said.

If the city wants to see a lot developed for a particular purpose, it may be possible to allow developers to forego certain costs or for the city to provide necessary infrastructure. Childers noted not all property is suitable for building because of factors like insufficient infrastructure or presence of a flood plain. That may create an opening for something like a neighborhood park, he said.

“We really want to be able to take a liability and turn it into an asset,” he said. “This will enable us to do that quicker. It helps us put in place a more consistent, transparent process for doing it.”

Atchley said there is much yet to be determined about a possible land bank.

“An important first step is determining what are the goals of this whole program,” he said.

But Childers said now that the city has a set of rules to follow, the details will come – and they have been in process since the 2024 state land bank law was overturned.

“I told everyone we need to keep surging forward just as if nothing has changed at all,” he said. “I feel good about where we’re at.”