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Peggy Brisbane-Noblit
Gardening is therapy for Peggy Brisbane-Noblit, a resident of Flint's Carriage Town neighborhood. Over the past six years, Brisbane-Noblit and her husband, Brad, have been restoring a Victorian-era home they purchased in the historic area, seeing the innate beauty of the old house despite the ravages of years of neglect. The sole drawback to the house was its postage stamp-sized yard.
“From the beginning, we were interested in acquiring the property next to the house,” Brisbane-Noblit said of the sizable corner lot abutting her property line. “Since I love to garden, we started taking care of the land right away and decided to try to find out who owned it.”
Inquiries led the couple to a local community development corporation, which had demolished the house on the property but was unable to gain clear title to the land.
“Title clearance has been a nightmare for many of our neighbors,” said Brisbane-Noblit, noting that multiple parcels in the neighborhood are owned by people who no longer live in Flint or by their heirs, many of whom are not even aware they own the property.
“We immediately made an offer of $1,000 for the lot, pending the title clearance. But after two years, it was still tied up in litigation for back taxes.”
Frustrated by their inability to purchase the property, the couple nonetheless continued to care for it, planting a variety of perennials and plotting the beginnings of a formal English garden.
“Through the neighborhood grapevine, we learned the lot had been turned over to the Genesee County Land Bank, and I contacted them immediately,” Brisbane-Noblit said. “Once they verified that we lived next to the property and didn’t own any tax-delinquent property, they agreed to sell it. The whole process cost us $29. It was the best money I’ve spent in my life.”
Any homeowner in the city of Flint living adjacent to vacant land bank property has the opportunity to purchase the property for $1 plus the foreclosure year’s taxes and a $14 filing fee.
The entire process is made possible through the side lot program, developed in 2003 to bring properties back onto the tax roll and reduce the public cost of maintaining vacant land, according to Art Potter, director of the land bank. To date, 266 empty lots have been sold to adjacent homeowners.
“Over the past few decades, 70,000 people have left Flint, and they didn’t take their houses (or land) with them,” he said. “The side lot program removes land from our inventory and puts it in the hands of people who will take good care of it.”
The couple have grand plans for their newly enlarged yard, recently purchasing a vintage iron gazebo that will anchor their garden. Just before the first frost last fall, they planted a dogwood tree and 90 tulip bulbs. They envision cobbled walkways and, eventually, an oasis of flowers.
“I’ve always loved old things,” said Brisbane-Noblit of her house and urban garden. “We really want to invest in this neighborhood. Flint is our home.”