Medford City Council moves vacant building ordinance forward, passes fire department funding request

By Crystal Yormick 

It was a busy May 12 meeting where Medford City Council approved all motions, including the most recent draft of its proposed Vacant Building Ordinance and a funding request from the fire department for new equipment and vehicles. 

It also increased the base salary for non-union personnel by 2.5% and honored the life of Leonard Glionna, a former member of several city committees who was very active in local government.

The Vacant Building Ordinance aims to incentivize landlords to rent their empty spaces to people who will revitalize them. This would be accomplished by fining landlords who keep their buildings vacant. Landlords often wait for high-paying tenants to come along and leave their buildings empty in the meantime, said Councilor Matt Leming, who presented the proposal at the meeting. The proposed plan would fine landlords $1,000 for the first year a building is vacant, $2,000 for the second year, and $3,000 for any subsequent years. This is the base amount all relevant properties would be charged, but the amount could increase based on a building's square footage, Leming said. 

The proposal aims to create a more vibrant social life by filling these areas and starting conversations with landlords before the fees are imposed, said Councilor Justin Tseng. The money generated from the fees would be used to fund a database to document the vacant properties in the city.

The proposed plan would also require monthly building inspections and upkeep of the properties. It has alternative options for landlords who cannot pay the fees, such as using their spaces for public events and displaying public art in storefronts. They would also be able to and appeal the fees. 

“The city is clamoring for a way to revitalize our squares and our corridors and see just how vibrant our commercial areas can be in Medford,” said City Council Vice President Emily Lazzaro. “We deserve to see all of the ways that local business owners can bring in their restaurants [and] the shops they want to open.”

Leming said the city’s vacant spaces create blight and a sense of urban decay. He addressed concerns that included potentially unwanted business in the vacant spaces, discouraged development and created a new, separate fee instead of increasing current inspection infraction fees. Other concerns included having enough staffing to enforce fines and how the ordinance would be applied to damaged vacant properties.

In response, Leming said the city’s building commissioner would have the discretion to decipher between businesses that are genuinely struggling financially and landlords who are simply being negligent or waiting for a high-paying offer. There are exceptions incorporated into the proposal for properties being sold or undergoing new construction. This would encourage, rather than discourage, development, Leming said. As for creating a new fee, he said state laws make it difficult to increase inspection infraction fees.

The ordinance would not affect small business owners because it applies to vacant, not occupied, buildings. Therefore, the effects fall entirely on the landlord of these empty spaces. 

The motion unanimously passed among councilors. Councilor George Scarpelli supported the motion but said there should be a meeting with stakeholders and people living next door to the buildings.

Fire Department requests

The fire department requested funds for a ladder truck, equipment to outfit two new pumpers — which will arrive in the fall — two fire prevention vehicles and a vehicle for the fire chief. Fire Chief Todd Evans said the ladder truck would take about four years to arrive, and he said he’s found a brand that would be significantly cheaper than other options. The new fire prevention vehicles, which are used for inspections, would replace the current vehicles from 2014 that are “in dire need of repair,” Evans said. 

But wait, there’s more

The state recently awarded Medford $450,000 for the Medford Square Redevelopment Project. Community Preservation Act manager Theresa Dupont said this money would be used to excavate the parking lot across from City Hall, conduct archaeological work to remove human remains and evidence of an intact old municipal cemetery found at the site, and to reinstate the parking lot afterwards. The entire process would cost about $900,000 to $1 million, she said. 

The council also passed a motion that increased the hours of the assistant network administrator position in the Department of Public Works from 35 hours a week to 40. The city planned to make the change once the seat was vacated. With the motion passed, it can now post a job opening and fill the position. 

Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn requested a Historic District Commission appointment for Roberta Cameron, and the council passed it unanimously.