Lower Burrell has unsold property in county repository; councilman buys tiny parcel

When Lower Burrell Councilman Chris Fabry was buying a new home on Aloha Drive, the city treasurer told him about an unclaimed sliver of neighboring land.

City Treasurer Brian Eshbaugh alerted Fabry and some other residents about small properties adjacent to their own in an effort to get them onto the tax rolls. Fabry and a few other residents are buying some of those parcels.

“It’s a positive for the city,” Eshbaugh said. Although the small parcels are going to generate small amounts of tax revenue, he said, it’s better than the land sitting there unclaimed.

City council voted 3-0 on Dec. 6 to sell the land to Fabry, with Fabry abstaining.

He recently bid on and bought a parcel from the Westmoreland County repository that is about 134 by 110 feet for $600 and fees.

The land on Aloha Drive is mostly a sliver of a hillside that was left over from the development of a housing plan.

“I commend Brian Eshbaugh for taking the proactive approach in not only finding these properties but contacting those who would potentially be interested in them,” Fabry said.

When Fabry and his wife put an offer in for their new house, they didn’t know that their land didn’t extend to the street.

“When Brian contacted me about it, it made perfect sense for us to buy the additional sliver of land. We plan on fencing in most of our yard for our dogs, so now they will have a little bit more room to run.”

Repository properties are unsold pieces of land offered by the county. The parcels are available after the county executes judicial and bid-off sales. When the parcels are in the repository, anyone, except the property owners, may bid on the property. If the county tax claim director accepts the bid, the purchaser pays that day and waits for 40 days for final consent. It’s a free and clear sale, according to the county.

Fabry said there is no other parcel touching the unclaimed sliver of land he bought.

“There is no value to it to anyone else other than me,” Fabry said. “It seems as though most of these other pieces are the same type of situation. Hopefully, the owners of the touching land opt to do the same as me and we get them back on the tax roll.”

City Administrator Amy Rockwell said there are two other residents interested in purchasing small parcels next to their homes that are in the repository.

There are 17 city properties in the repository, which are along Arnold Place, Blue Jay Drive, Quail Run Road, Country View Drive and other areas.

Residents should consult the Westmoreland County repository list for details. In addition to the repository, there are other ways to buy property through the county including the county’s redevelopment authority land bank.

The land bank acquires blighted, vacant and tax-delinquent properties to rehab and market.

There are 25 municipalities out of 65 in the county that have joined the land bank, including Lower Burrell, said Brian Lawrence, executive director of the redevelopment authority.

His agency’s primary role is to eliminate blight.

The amount of money that taxing bodies recoup depends on the property, Lawrence said.

“If they are improved, they can generate tens of thousands of dollars,” he said.