15 - Vacant Building Ordinance update

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Item No. 15 TO: Mayor & City Council FROM: John Godwin, City Manager SUBJECT: VACANT BUILDING ORDINANCE UPDATE DATE: May 31, 2019 BACKGROUND: Last spring the city council approved a vacant building registry that requires owners of properties in a specific downtown area to register their buildings with the city, and to pay a fee of $500 per year as long as it remains open. That ordinance was effective in July; fees were not due until January 31. We initially identified thirty-nine buildings downtown as meeting the definition of vacant. Property owners were sent notices of the new ordinance and its requirements upon its adoption and another reminder in October about the fees. Several registered right away, while others were much slower. Compliance was somewhat slow, but by early this year we had a majority of properties registered and most of those had also paid their fees in a timely manner. One property was opened for use, so was no longer categorized as vacant. Four properties (with two different owners) were in the active process of being remodeled for sale or rent, so were eligible for a waiver of the fees, but still had to register. STATUS OF ISSUE: By ordinance, property owners are allowed ninety days to register once the city sends notice of violation. Notices of violation were sent to property owners in March of this year, and summonses were sent to three owners representing twelve properties in May. Two of those owners have registered their properties, but not paid fees; one has done neither. As of now, each is expected to be addressed in municipal court. In addition, two of the originally identified properties were foreclosed on by the city. No action has been taken on those properties at this point because we thought they would be sold at auction in March. Three new small structures were added to the list this month week, as well as one building that recently became vacant. BUDGET: NA RECOMMENDATION: Discussion only.