Kansas Senate committee passes blight bill

A Senate committee on Thursday approved an anti-blight bill that has divided Wichita and Sedgwick County governments.

After making some changes in how blight is defined, the Commerce Committee passed Senate Bill 84 with a recommendation for full Senate approval, said Sen. Julia Lynn, R-Olathe.

The bill is designed to make it easier for cities to go to court to turn abandoned houses over to nonprofit groups that build and rehabilitate homes for the poor.

The bill originated in Kansas City, Kan., and is endorsed by the city of Wichita.

Wichita City Council member Lavonta Williams, whose lower-income district is plagued by abandoned homes, is one of the bill’s biggest supporters.

But this week, the Sedgwick County Commission directed its staff to oppose the bill, saying it would infringe on private property rights.

Commission Chairman Richard Ranzau likened it to the Kelo Decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a Connecticut city could take a woman’s beachfront home to further a city economic development effort.

Williams said SB 84’s intent is to save abandoned but salvageable homes by working with the nonprofit groups, such as Habitat for Humanity and Mennonite Housing.

She invited the county commissioners to tour her district and tell her whether they’d like to live next door to the kind of houses the bill targets, which neighbors say become havens for gang and drug activity and illegal dumping.

Lynn said the committee passed SB 84 after making some changes that tightened a definition of blighting influence.

The new language will make it clear that a city can’t move to take an abandoned house without showing that blighted conditions are affecting other people’s property, Lynn said.

It also requires that the house be abandoned at least six months and be two years in arrears on property taxes, Lynn said.

This story was originally published February 19, 2015 at 9:17 PM with the headline "Kansas Senate committee passes blight bill."