Eighty-eight parcels of land to be gifted to Youngstown Land Bank

An impulse purchase made in the 1950's could help fuel development in Youngstown's future.

The city's Board of Control approved a gift of 88 parcels of land from owner Carol Dearing to the Youngstown Land Bank at a meeting Friday morning.

Dearing explained to 21 News that her father had stumbled across an auction selling land in the city of Youngstown 70 years ago, and left with the deeds to 100 parcels across the East Side. Those parcels remain vacant, with plans for development that never came to fruition.

Though some of the parcels had been given away in decades since, the remaining 88 in Carol's possession came with a price tag. Between paying thousands of dollars in property taxes, and mowing and maintenance fees, the 93 year old said she couldn't keep up with those costs anymore.

With the help of her son, Dearing got in contact with Youngstown's land bank- in hopes that the city might be able to take the properties off her hands.

"There's roughly about 30 lots that are current on taxes, and about 50 or so that are delinquent," Land Bank administrator Stephen Biroschak said.

At this time it's unclear when Youngstown's City Council will decide whether to grant forgiveness for those delinquent funds, which Biroschak noted totaled approximately $3,000. But, he said, adding those properties back to the Land Bank is helping the city towards a long-term goal of creating residential and economic development opportunities in the area.

"They're about 25 foot wide by about a hundred, and then there's usually 3 or 4 put together at one, so if you have a plan to redevelop them you could plot them into a lot that's buildable," Biroschak said. "Maybe one day there'll be more properties that are acquired and might see development, but for now, it's generally just cleaning up titles and land acquisition."

Dearing says she's just happy to be able to help out the city she says she's still so proud of.