BALTIMORE CITY — City council is taking another step to combat the vacant crisis.
The issues caused by abandoned buildings is something council hears about nearly every day, including district 8 councilman Paris Gray.
“We know that it's a huge burden on quality of life, it often attracts crime,” Gray said. “People live there illegally, sometimes they set fires to these vacant properties.”
WATCH: City Council takes another step forward in fight against Baltimore blight
Gray’s bill 25-0059, is up for a vote during its second reading Monday night. It would clear a path for the city to take ownership of vacant properties in receivership that do not sell at auction.
“We're putting the responsibility where it should lie, with the city,” Gray said.
According to open data, the city owns 934 vacants when there are more than 12,454 within city limits.
“A lot of times they're just owned by folks who have passed away, or people who don't live in Baltimore or what a lot of people suspect: People just don't care about the properties anymore," Gray said. "So the goal is to get them out of the hands of those types of people and give them to people that do care and make our neighborhoods look great."
It builds upon other legislation already introduced earlier this year by Councilwoman Odette Ramos, which lowers the threshold needed for the city to foreclose on vacant properties.
“There's definitely not one tool for everything. We have different tools to match the circumstances by which the house comes to us,” Ramos said. "Every house has its own story, which is why this work is hard and we have to have multiple tools to address the issue."
On Sept. 2, a 5-alarm fire broke out within several vacant properties at N. Howard and W. Fayette streets causing what’s known as the superblock, to go up in flames.
Several buildings have been raised and crews are still in the process of demolishing the remaining, historic structures as of Monday.
The city already owns the entire block, but Councilman Zac Blanchard explained that the area poses unique challenges.
“The superblock is a specific problem of a lot of larger historic buildings altogether that have to be redeveloped historically as a massive redevelopment effort,” District 11 Councilman Zac Blanchard. ”It is totally independent from,’Hey, we have several vacants on this residential block that need to be out of the current owner's hands’.”
“[The bill] is not a cure for every problem,” Gray said.
But he says it is another step in the right direction, to help cut down on the thousands of dilapidated buildings that are ubiquitous in Baltimore.
The bill is expected to pass and proceed to a third and final reading.
"At least on this issue we are all in lockstep and making sure that we deliver the results for Baltimore, the results that Baltimoreans deserve,” Gray said.
The city has an ongoing $3 billion 15 year plan to address the blight.
