The housing crisis has created a big problem for local governments — too many vacant lots.

Metro Atlanta has enough vacant lots ready for housing — 148,300 — to supply builders for the next five years, according to the national real estate research firm Metrostudy, which has an office in Atlanta. In a healthy market, the lot supply would be less than two years.

The oversupply of empty lots is "the crest of the second wave" of the ongoing housing crisis, said Tim Young, planning director for Locust Grove. Young was part of a panel discussion in Morrow Wednesday called "Housing Challenges on the Southside," organized by the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Many of the lots are being neglected, panelists said. In some cases, the cleared land is producing streams of mud when it rains, polluting waterways and lakes. Thieves are stealing unprotected manholes covers because the price of scrap iron is up. And people are dumping trash on the lots.

In Locust Grove, Young said, about two-thirds of the lots either are close to foreclosure or in foreclosure. Because of thefts, manhole covers there have been welded shut, he said.

Struggling community banks have had to take back lots because of bad loans and don't have the resources to maintain them.

Some of those banks are in trouble, said panelist Chris Burke, vice president of government affairs for the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association. "Are they going to spend their few remaining dollars on empty lots?"

Marshall Walker, assistant director of planning and zoning in Rockdale County, said the state puts pressure on local governments to control runoff at lots. But lot owners, including banks, are slow to respond to maintenance requests, Walker said.

"The banks always want to get rid of them rather than put more money into them," Walker said.

The demise of smaller developers and builders because of the housing crisis means many of those left standing will be companies that develop only large tracts.

That hurts communities in need of infill projects, Walker said. Age-restricted housing, a growing segment as baby boomers retire, also could be hampered, he said.

"The best ones to do senior housing are not necessarily the bigger developers," Walker said.

The panelists said the development community is urging local governments to relax building standards to allow more affordable housing, but governments are resisting making those changes.