Wilmington Council Rejects Dissolution Of Land Bank, Backs Reform Instead

Homes in Wilmington’s Hilltop neighborhood, part of the Land Bank’s Lower Hilltop Initiative. (Photo by Claudia Estrada)

WILMINGTON – City Council on Thursday voted against dissolving the Wilmington Neighborhood Conservancy Land Bank, instead shifting its focus on reforming the agency amid ongoing concerns about transparency, accountability, and effectiveness.

Councilmember Shané Darby, who sponsored the legislation to dismantle the Land Bank, argued the agency had lost public trust and failed to deliver on its mission of creating lasting affordable housing.

“There’s no amount of reform that we can do to make sure the Land Bank is accountable to the community,” Darby said during the meeting.“I believe the best thing for City Council to do is to get rid of that entity and bring everything in house.”

Darby acknowledged ahead of the vote that she likely didn’t have enough backing from her colleagues.

“I don’t believe I’m going to get the votes ever to dissolve it,” she said. “We’re going to have to focus on reform, which I think will help a little bit. It’s very short-term, but eventually, it will need to be dissolved.”

Councilmembers debated the ordinance at length, with some backing Darby’s concerns about the Land Bank’s handling of properties. Multiple council members cited complaints from residents who said they had trouble navigating the Land Bank’s application process or accessing information about available properties.

“Some developers get access, some developers don’t,” councilmember Christian Willauer said. “Many residents have brought up to me that they’ve had trouble getting properties from the Land Bank, and the inventory isn’t available.”

Concerns were also raised about affordability. Willauer pointed to renovated homes in the Hilltop neighborhood that weren’t affordable for local home buyers.

“There are some affordable home ownership opportunities that have been created by the Land Bank,” she said, “but they were mostly affordable for people from New York and New Jersey, and that’s not good enough.”

However, while nearly all council members agreed that the Land Bank needs major improvements, most stopped short of supporting its dissolution.

“I think there is a need for a greater level of accountability,” said Councilmember Michelle Harlee, who joined the Land Bank board earlier this year. “However, I do believe that the Land Bank is a great tool that needs to be improved.”

Councilmember Maria Cabrera defended the Land Bank’s impact on the city.

“There’s a total of 309 Land Bank properties that have been repurposed as of the end of 2024—166 for affordable home ownership, 46 for affordable rental, and 97 for nonprofit-point affordable housing projects,” Cabrera said.

She highlighted the transformation in Lower Hilltop, where “the first three homes were sold to local single moms and a grandmom.”

According to Cabrera, of 50 vacant properties in a 10-block radius, 42 have now been purchased, and two more are currently listed for sale under HUD affordability guidelines.

Cabrera defended the Land Bank’s process, saying its properties are typically “dilapidated” and located in “troubled neighborhoods,” which limits who can realistically take on the rehabilitation work.

“You can’t discriminate on who purchases them,” she said. “They have to show the resources to fix the property.”

She also questioned the readiness of the city to absorb the Land Bank’s responsibilities.

“There was no fiscal impact study or capacity studies, no conversations as to whether Real Estate and Housing can handle this project,” Cabrera said, adding, “The city was not successful in managing any of the properties it did have, which led to the creation of the Land Bank.”

Opponents of dissolution also warned that without the Land Bank, there is no clear entity to take over the work of acquiring and restoring abandoned properties.

“If we were to dissolve the Land Bank today, who would do that tomorrow? Nobody,” councilmember James Spadola said. “I want the Land Bank back at it tomorrow, cleaning up our vacants and cleaning up our blight.”

Though the ordinance to dissolve the Land Bank failed, many of the members who voted against it expressed support for a future reform package to increase oversight, improve operations, and rebuild community trust.

“I am in full support of major improvements, greater accountability, more engagement and even input from the community,” Harlee said. “We need to reimagine what the Land Bank is supposed to be doing.”

Darby said she is now working on legislation that would include structural changes to how the Land Bank is overseen and how it interacts with the public.

“I’ve been having a lot of conversations,” she said. “ I bet you, in the next few years, we’re going to be back here talking about dissolving the Land Bank again.”

Continued tensions over accountability

While the council voted to preserve the Land Bank for now, the debate over its transparency and performance hasn’t let up.

Councilmember Darby introduced two resolutions aimed at holding the Land Bank accountable for what she described as repeated failures to comply with council directives and maintain public transparency.

The first resolution sought to formally document the Land Bank’s failure to hold a public hearing about the controversial transfer of the Gibraltar property. Darby stated that although the Council had previously passed a resolution requiring a hearing, the Land Bank instead hosted a presentation at a civic meeting, which she argued did not meet the required standards.

“They thought that they could be slick and just say, hey, we’re going to have it at the next community meeting, and that’s going to count as our public hearing,” Darby said. “No. They have to be transparent. They have to be held accountable for their actions.”

The resolution failed on a 4–4 vote, with one member present and four absent.

Darby’s second resolution focused on the Land Bank’s delayed and incomplete property listings on its website. She criticized a recently posted list as disorganized and uninformative, saying it did not include necessary details like pricing, buyer names, or the reasoning behind property reservations.

“The list looks a hot mess. It doesn’t even make sense,” she said. “Our community deserves better than what the Land Bank is giving.”

That resolution passed narrowly, with five votes in favor and four against.

Darby said she plans to continue documenting what she calls “violations” by the Land Bank whenever it fails to respond to council or public requests.