Vacant building owners in Medford could end up paying a price
The Planning & Permitting Committee is floating an ordinance update that would force landlords to register their vacant or abandoned properties and to pay a fee.
A proposed update to the city’s vacant building ordinance could have landlords with empty structures paying a registration fee.
“My goal for tonight is to start the conversation and get more feedback on it,” said City Councilor Justin Tseng during the recent Planning and Permitting Committee meeting regarding the proposed ordinance change aimed at reducing the number of vacant buildings in the city.
Vacant buildings, and Medford has had at least two that have been that way for some time, is an issue that city councilors hear about regularly, said Councilor Matt Leming.
“They create harm to economic vitality, they reduce foot traffic, and just generally contribute to a sense of blight,” he said.
Leming said in researching the issue they’ve found that many landlords hold out for higher-paying tenants or don’t have the means to bring their buildings up to code. Because eviction costs are high, he said, waiting for prime tenants versus lost rent seems like the better deal.
The city, he said, has had limited success with changing landlords' minds with the existing ordinance because state tax credits require too much time, grants are small and very restrictive, and the city has limited ability to talk directly to property owners.
What’s proposed
Tseng said the purpose of the ordinance is to establish, develop, and maintain an online registry of vacant properties in the city, conduct inspections provided for in the section, provide an administrative appeal process for anyone who feels aggrieved by the requirements, and mitigate the negative effects the buildings have on the health, safety, welfare, and economic vitality of the city and its residents. And to hit them where it often hurts– in the wallet.
While the city cannot create a tax, it can, Tseng pointed out, create fees. Tseng said they looked at a number of other communities that have similar ordinances.
“They found the escalating structure where it's like, for example, $1,000 in the first year of vacancy, $2,000 in the second, and then $3,000 each year to be really effective as a deterrent for bad behavior,” he said. “And we've also built in a lot of waivers.”
Waivers might be granted for significant financial hardship but also if the landlord has public art on display, uses the building for public events, or demonstrates that it’s being upgraded for future use, Tseng said. He said he also received a suggestion from a local lawyer that a waiver be granted if the property title is in dispute.
Will it work?
Tseng said he’s heard from other communities that the mere ideas of the fees has proven successful.
“For example, in East Hampton, I think they had 10 or 12 properties that were vacant, and they've only had to charge one or two properties with the fee,” he said. “They've really seen a huge drop-off since the ordinance, their ordinance, has been passed. Same thing in Arlington.”
Tseng said he also discovered that other communities have more robust inspectional regimes for vacant properties, with fines or citations for violations attached, than what’s in Medford’s current ordinance, and the plan is to follow suit.
Ultimately the proposal is designed to give the city far more leverage than it has with negligent landlords, but the proposal will remain in the Planning and Permitting Committee for now. The committee said it would seek a legal review of the ordinance and continue to tweak it while accepting continued feedback before moving it to the full council.
