One Community Update
August 20, 2024

Source: Alabama Public Radio

The Center for Community Progress is awarding Birmingham $50,000 in technical assistance to help revamp its code enforcement practices.

The Department of Planning, Engineering, and Permits (PEP) will use this resource to implement and educate the public about the recently passed foreclosure bill SB9 signed by Governor Kay Ivey, according to the city.

“The SB9 legislation is another strategic tool in combating code enforcement issues within the City of Birmingham,” said Katrina Thomas, Director of PEP, in a news release.

“This legislation will provide a path forward for the City to pursue non-owner-occupied property where we have seen repeat nuisance violations, unpaid code enforcement liens, and negligent response regarding abatement of such violations,” she continued. “We look forward to working hand in hand with Community Progress as we implement a local ordinance and educate our citizens on the tool.”

Birmingham’s Department of Planning, Engineering and Permits engaged in a rigorous interview and application process for this competitive award. The team is partnering with the Birmingham City Council to build out a local ordinance that will put in place the legal mechanism to pursue foreclosure for non-owner occupied properties with code enforcement liens.

Since 2010, the Community Progress team of experts has provided urban, suburban, and rural communities battling systemic vacancy with the policies, tools, and resources needed to address the full cycle of property revitalization.

Their Technical Assistance Scholarships enable the pilot and design of new programs and practices that become models for the community revitalization field to emulate and implement in order to address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties.

“Each community selected for the Technical Assistance Scholarship demonstrated a strong commitment to evaluating their code enforcement practices and exploring reforms that will positively impact residents and their neighborhoods,” said Tarik Abdelazim, VP of Technical Assistance, Center for Community Progress, in a press release.

“We are thrilled to be working with leaders in the City of Birmingham as they work to implement new legal tools to address problem properties in pursuit of an equitable, safe, and resilient city for all,” he continued.

The national experts at Community Progress, who have worked with hundreds of diverse communities, will help scholarship communities shift from a traditional code enforcement approach to strategic code compliance.

Each successful applicant will be awarded approximately 200 hours of customized technical assistance from a team of experts at Community Progress. These services cost approximately $50,000, but the scholarship will fully underwrite these costs. Cleveland, Ohio, and Lima, Ohio were also awarded scholarships.