03-03-2025
Reading City Council adopts housing and blight strategy
A new plan will address housing and blight issues in Reading.
City Council has voted unanimously to adopt a comprehensive Housing and Blight Strategy.
Shannon Cullouri of Hailstone Economic, Scranton, presented an overview of the plan to council Feb. 24 at its committee of the whole meeting.
Hailstone began working with the city in 2021 to provide technical assistance and implement a draft plan developed in 2019 by Branton Strategies of Philadelphia.
The plan can be used to build on the city's existing programs with fresh, innovative and up-to-date strategies, she said.
'One of the things it does is it outlines this new approach, and there's three pieces of that new approach,' Calluori said. 'It's really encouraging the city to do data-driven, systems-based code enforcement and blight remediation.'
Cullouri said the city conducted a parcel-by-parcel property condition survey and bought software that analyzes data, including property conditions, police activity and vacancy status to better identify where to target activity.
'There's a lot of great data,' she said, 'so the plan really encourages the city to move forward with blight remediation using data.'
The plan also takes an equitable approach, Cullouri said, by recognizing that many property owners lack the financial resources to address code violations.
It also suggests creating programs to provide financial assistance or partner with nonprofits to support remediation efforts, she said.
Cullouri emphasized that addressing blight requires coordination among multiple departments and external partners rather than being the sole responsibility of the city.
'There's nothing about blighted properties that can be the responsibility of one entity, one department or the city,' she said. 'The city and partners outside of the city need to work together to address blight in a comprehensive way.'
The former St. Cecilia's Chapel at 1340 Perkiomen Ave. is a target of City Council's comprehensive housing and blight strategy. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
The strategy further includes recommendations in three key categories: prevention, remediation and redevelopment.
Prevention programs could include facade and sidewalk improvement grants, home repairs and rental rehabilitation assistance, and ensuring negligent property owners cannot purchase additional properties, Cullouri said.
'There is a law that's in place that the city is probably using right now to disqualify property owners from buying more properties if they're not taking care of the properties they already have on hand,' she said.
Remediation could include creating a problem property inventory, prioritizing intervention efforts and increasing foreclosure registration fees, Cullouri said.
Redevelopment tools include conveying vacant lots to neighbors, strengthening investment incentives and using state laws to acquire and rehabilitate properties, she said.
Hailstone Economics has been working closely with city officials to turn these recommendations into action, Cullouri said.
Efforts included forming a citywide blight coordination team, supporting presale property inspections and refining strategies for targeted code enforcement.
Hailstone also focused with the city's community development department on revitalizing the Reading Redevelopment Authority.
'We provided a lot of support in kind of getting them up and running, and writing a strategic plan specific for the operations of the Redevelopment Authority,' Cullouri said.
Many of the strategy's recommendations are already being implemented, Cullouri said, but formal adoption by council would solidify the plan's role in the city's future.
Councilman O. Christopher Miller noted the strategy's proactive approach toward addressing blight.
Too often, he said, nothing is done until the blight causes a major issue, such as a building collapse.
'All of a sudden, there's this knee-jerk reaction to deal with blighted properties, because suddenly there's a major issue that we're dealing with,' he said. 'But I think from what I'm understanding, this is more of a proactive approach to deal with the issue before it gets to the point that it's reactive. And I think that's the right direction.'
Council President Donna Reed said the plan makes sense, but expressed frustration over the time it has taken to ready the strategy for council's approval.
Reed asked for a timeline on implementation.
City Managing Director Jack Gombach said the administration would like to have a blight coordination team in place in the next couple of months.
Part of the delay, he explained, has been due to staff vacancies,
There are 11 vacant positions in the community development department: five in property maintenance, three in trades and three in zoning and planning. The department director's position is also open.
'I don't think anybody's expectation in this room is that it (the plan) is going to be fully executed in a week,' Gombach said. 'I think it's really about right-aligning the current workload with current staffing and strategically staffing up so that we're growing the department with our needs.'
