News 12 has learned that lawmakers in Nassau County are reworking a bill that aims to address so-called "zombie homes."

Zombie homes are vacant, bank-owned houses that are deteriorating while they are going through the foreclosure process.

Nassau County currently has about 2,000 such properties. County Executive Ed Mangano recently proposed a bill to establish a Nassau County "land bank," a nonprofit that could acquire, renovate and sell the homes.

His plan came under fire Monday, with Democrats in the Nassau County Legislature saying the measure doesn't do enough to help the communities most affected by blighted houses.

Some Republican legislators agreed that changes should be made to Mangano's bill, which was tabled just before lawmakers were set to vote on it.

Margo Cargill is vice president of the nonprofit Uniondale Community Land Trust, which helps to create affordable, sustainable housing on Long Island. She says she'd like a new land bank bill to include specific provisions about zoning.

"We don't want to see, let's say, a single-home property turned into multiple-home dwelling, which it was never meant to be," she says. "We don't want the home into fall into developers' hands."