Louisville officials will hold the first monthly public forum in April to discuss the city’s vacant and abandoned property issues at which time they'll show the community its new system designed to track data.
The city has been developing a data system called VAPStat (Vacant and Abandoned Properties Statistics)--like the city's LouieStat system that tracks other city data--that will assess how Metro Government is addressing the city’s vacant and abandoned properties.The latest annual Metropolitan Housing Report says Louisville has not addressed vacant properties efficiently despite investing million of dollars the past two years. Further, the city’s definition of vacant and abandoned property may differ from other groups that keep similar information.Metropolitan Housing Coalition executive director Cathy Hinko says she believes Louisville officials now want an honest conversation to improve the vacant and abandoned properties issue. She adds the community forums will provide the space for the community to help the city develop its tracking system moving forward.“There’s going to be an evolution as they figure out what’s still missing and what needs to be done,” she says.The state being examined includes:
Number of foreclosures started and closed;
Number of demolitions completed and the number pending;
Amount of property liens collected;
Number of cutting, boarding and cleaning requests completed and pending;
Number and location of vacant properties.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has set a goal to reduce vacant and abandoned properties 40 percent by 2015 and by 67 percent by 2017.The forum will be held at Louisville's main branch public library on April 29 between 4 to 5:30pm.
