Abington, PA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Chapter 49 creates the Vacant Property Review Board (VPRB) under § 49-3, a five-member panel: one sitting Commissioner, one member of the Abington Township Planning Commission, and three residents appointed by the Board of Commissioners to staggered three-year terms, a structure the Commissioners amended October 10, 2024 by Ordinance No. 2219. The VPRB's core function is certifying blight: pursuant to the Urban Development Act and this chapter, it determines whether a specific vacant property is blighted and certifies that finding to the Redevelopment Authority, which can then move toward acquisition.

Section 49-4 sets the guardrails on that power. Only a vacant property can be certified; occupied homes and active businesses fall outside the VPRB's reach entirely. Before certification, the owner (or an in-county agent designated to receive notices) must be served with the blight determination itself, an order describing the specific conditions to eliminate, and a warning that failure to comply exposes the property to condemnation. The owner keeps a right of appeal, and the VPRB cannot certify the property to the Redevelopment Authority until that appeal window has run, or, if an appeal was filed, until it has been resolved and the owner still has not complied.

Even after certification, the process carries planning safeguards: at least 30 days before acquiring a certified property, the Redevelopment Authority must send identification to the Township and County Planning Commissions for a reuse recommendation, and it cannot acquire the parcel if either commission certifies that reuse would conflict with the Comprehensive Plan.