Monroe County announces new resource for ‘zombie’ properties

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Monroe County and the City of Rochester Monday announced a new tool that they say is aimed at reducing the number of vacant "zombie" properties in the area.

The Monroe County Vacant Property Advisory Committee is hosting a website using city funds that connects homeowners with resources to address the vacant properties in their communities, including foreclosure prevention resources, maintenance grants and loan opportunities, information about how to sell or donate a vacant property to a non-profit, and information about what municipalities’ responsibilities to address vacant properties are.

The website is MCvacants.com.

"Zombie" properties have been a priority of County Executive Adam Bello’s since before he was elected to his current position. Back in July of 2019, when Bello was still County Clerk, he announced a three-point strategy to address vacant properties as part of his campaign for county executive.

Last month, when Monroe County marked two years since the first case of COVID-19 was detected, Bello said the county had adapted to treating COVID as "part of what the county does" and that it could focus on issues that would have been part of Bello’s agenda, like opioids, infrastructure or training the local workforce.