(a) Upon registration of a commercial, industrial, or other non-residential vacant building of under or equal to ten thousand (10,000) interior square feet, as of July 1, 2024, the Responsible Party shall provide a cash bond to the Director in the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00). Upon registration of a commercial, industrial, or other non-residential vacant building of over ten thousand (10,000) interior square feet, as of July 1, 2024, the Responsible Party shall provide a cash bond to the Director in the sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00). Thereafter, the amounts may be adjusted by the City of Cleveland on an annual basis, beginning July 1, 2025 and each year thereafter in proportion to the Consumer Price Index for Northeast Ohio, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.
Upon registration of a non-residential vacant property under Section 3106.03, the Responsible Party may apply to the Director for an exemption from the bond requirement in this section. Upon such application, the Director may cause a vacant building inspection to occur at the vacant property. The exemption shall be granted only under one of the following conditions:
(1) The exemption shall be granted until the next annual registration of the property if the property is not boarded up and has not been boarded up by the City in the last three (3) years; no Notices of Violation have been issued against the property with which the Responsible Party has not complied; no formal complaints regarding the Responsible Party’s ownership or maintenance of the property have been made in the last three (3) years and were found meritorious; and the Responsible Owner is not delinquent regarding the vacant property’s property tax balance.
(2) The exemption shall be granted until the next annual registration of the property if the Responsible Party can demonstrate that there are reasonable and substantial plans to correct the property’s code violations; there has been substantial progress in correcting the property’s code violations; and appropriate permits have been filed.
(3) The exemption shall be granted indefinitely if the Owner is a Governmental Entity.
(b) Such bond may be used to ensure the continued maintenance of the property in compliance with the provisions of this Housing Code throughout its vacancy and to reimburse the City for any fees owed and expenses incurred in inspecting, securing, repairing and/ or making such building safe by any legal means including, but not limited to, demolition.
(c) If violations of the Codified Ordinances are identified by the City and their correction would cost more than the value of the bond required under division (a) of this section, then the City is authorized to require a higher bond, based on the amount set in the report of such inspection. If the Bond is entirely depleted, the Responsible Party shall provide another bond for the greater of the cost of repairing the remaining, uncorrected violations or the equivalent value as it was required to provide under division (a) of this section, whichever is greater.
(d) The bond obligations of this section shall apply until the property is no longer vacant or until title to the property has been transferred to a third party.
(e) When the property is no longer vacant or the title to the property has transferred, the remaining bond funds will be returned to the party making the deposit upon proof of compliance with this chapter and if the owner submits a written request for such refund.
(Ord. No. 388-2024. Passed 4-1-24, eff. 4-3-24)