Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl asked City Council Tuesday for permission to create a 25-member task force that would have two years to write a plan for dealing with the city's vacant properties.

The legislation to create the Land Recycling Task Force could come up for an initial vote next week. The mayor would pick all members, and the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group would raise funds to pay for any staff, consultants or other services needed.

The task force might review tax collection, means of passing vacant properties to community groups, maintenance of empty lots and land marketing.

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