The threats of visual pollution are a proliferating issue across many communities in America, immensely affecting scenic beauty, parks and open spaces, trees and native vegetation, the aesthetic quality of scenic byways and highways, and the sense of a place’s uniqueness and character. Many forms of visual blight — including billboards, rampant signage, overhead utility wires, and irresponsible development — significantly damage the aesthetics of neighborhoods and stifle economic opportunities. However, a bill that has been introduced in the Senate seeks to combat the expansion of visual pollution by promoting community development and documenting the increasing effects of visual blight across the U.S.

U.S. Senate Bill 4146 (S.4146), the “Neighborhood Revitalization and Land Banking Act of 2024,” would task the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with establishing a program which awards funding that benefits neighborhood revitalization efforts. The bill, which was introduced by Sen. Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA) and co-sponsored by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), has been referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

The bill sets priorities for protecting scenic beauty and emphasizing the quality development of communities by allowing the Secretary of the HUD to set up two kinds of project funding — planning grants and implementation grants — to land banks and state or local governments not served by land banks across the country. Land banks are important government entities, agencies, or programs “that (have) been designated by (one) or more State or local governments to acquire, steward, and dispose of vacant, abandoned, or other problem properties in accordance with locally determined priorities and goals.”

The use of planning grants would allow land banks in states and municipalities to thoroughly assess the condition of properties in neighborhoods, allowing these bodies to prioritize the communities’ needs and interests in assessing the impact of visual disruptions. Specifically, the bill notes that planning grants would allow land banks to create a selected list of blighted commercial and residential properties and emphasizes areas that can be targeted for “demolition, deconstruction, redevelopment, or other disposition(s).”

S.4146 also notes that these grants can help land banks create proposed revitalization plans that address how blighted properties would be used after they are brought back into use. In creating the plans, the bill states that these bodies should consider how redeveloped properties would support existing homeowners, renters and businesses, contribute to holistic neighborhood revitalization, and align with communities’ goals and priorities.

Similarly, implementation grants would enable land banks to execute revitalization plans over a five-year period, with the costs going towards factors such as preparing the site, property acquisition and disposition, demolition, deconstruction, administrative costs, and operating expenses. It also states that up to 25% of the grant can be used for construction and predevelopment costs that occur in preparing properties for development.

S.4146 notes several considerations that the Secretary of the HUD must make in allocating grants to land banks, because they must seek to fund land banks in a “geographically diverse manner,” consider the needs of rural geographies separately from population, and determine if proposed plans represent cohesive targeted areas with shared character. These factors are especially important in recognizing the impacts that inadequately developed properties and visual blight have on community placemaking and the country’s aesthetic beauty.

The bill states that planning grants can range from $100,000-$250,000 with a total not exceeding $18M for fiscal years 2025 and 2026, and $1M in each fiscal year between 2027 and 2035, while implementation grants range between $2M-15M with a total not exceeding $40M in each fiscal year between 2027 and 2035.

Significantly, the bill also designates the Secretary of the HUD to establish grants for monitoring property conditions and developing a database to track blighted properties across America. The priority in accepted applications would be based on the land bank or governments’ ability to monitor property conditions and track blighted lands in an entire county. Land banks that serve multiple counties would also have to get a partnership with each county to file an application.

This initiative would allow land banks or governments to map activities about a given geography through methods like data scraping and technology to create municipal datasets, and document commercial, industrial, and residential properties that are blighted throughout the country. The data collected using grant funds would also be made available for access by other municipal or county agencies, and by local community development entities and nonprofit organizations, allowing for the impact of visual blight throughout the country to be recorded. Each grant would be worth up to $10,000 per fiscal year for these projects.

Scenic America recognizes that when people seek out places to live, work, or visit, they are drawn to areas with character — places adorned with parks, trails, open spaces, and vibrant restaurants and retail. Investing in the visual aesthetics of communities enhances their economic vibrancy and contributes to their livability and sustainability, while visual blight damages the scenic qualities of communities, distracts drivers, brings down property values, and bombards people with unavoidable marketing messages.

Quality development cannot be achieved without some commitment from local governments, planning, and oversight or control to promote the overall goals and welfare of communities. Cities that overlook proper planning or design choices risk corrupting the unique qualities that define them, making recovering from the loss of community character difficult. Unfortunately, most communities do not have the resources to effectively support professional training for city leaders, planners, historic district commissions, and design review boards.

However, the provisions of S.4146 would allow for communities to instill new design choices that enhance the qualities of areas that people live, work, and play in for the enjoyment of generations to come. Providing funding to document the impacts of visual proliferation and address the challenges that stem from it through planning, implementation, and mapping grants would foster new development that respects the special character and charm that make communities unique through the enactment of the bill. Otherwise, with no checks on visual pollution, the beauty of many communities will be lost.