FULTON, NY – The City of Fulton will have five blighted properties renovated, resold as single-family homes, and put back on the tax rolls; thanks to a state Legacy Cities Grant secured by the Oswego County Land Bank (OCLB) with the support of the Fulton Community Development Agency (CDA).
“I’m grateful to Nate Emmons, CDA executive director, and to the Oswego County Land Bank for making this possible for Fulton,” Fulton Mayor Deana Michaels said. “Every property we rehabilitate and return to our tax rolls both beautifies our city and eases the tax burden on all home and property owners. Overall, this raises the number of blighted homes slated for renovation or demolition.”
According to Kim Park, OCLB executive director, a total of $1.3 million will be invested in Fulton from a combination of the Legacy Grant, low-interest loans through the Community Preservation Corp., and the Land Bank Initiative Stabilization funds.
The five properties include: 221 W. Fifth St., 415 W. Second St., 609 Seneca St., 611 Erie St., and 564 W. First St.
The five homes slated for renovation will be offered to first-time homebuyers and sold as single-family homes. In addition to these five homes, Mayor Michaels said that the city will also be demolishing five derelict homes.
Park explained that each of the homes marked for rehab will be “thoroughly gone through,” beginning with an environmental review of each property.
“We’ll also address vegetation overgrowth, masonry issues, roof repair/replacement, and window and door replacement. Each of these properties will be brought up to code for electrical, plumbing and HVAC, so that at the end of the day, these will have new kitchens, bath, flooring and more so they are quality, affordable, rejuvenated single-family homes,” Park said.
“If we are successful in refurbishing and re-selling these properties, we can return to the Legacy Grant funding source again, which requires a minimum of five and a maximum of ten homes per grant application.”
Since 2017, the OCLB has put properties with a sales value of $5.3 million back on the tax rolls in Oswego County. A land bank’s preventive maintenance, like this project in Fulton, reduces a city’s costs of code enforcement, lawn mowing, board-ups, police and first responder calls, and court-ordered demolitions, while contributing more to the stabilization of property values than reactive interventions.
For information on the Oswego County Land Bank, visit www.oswegocountylandbank.com.
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