(a) The City has determined that uninspected and unmonitored vacant buildings:
(1) Present a fire hazard;
(2) Are often utilized by vagrants and transients (including drug abusers and traffickers) as dangerous and unsafe temporary shelters;
(3) Detract from private and/or public efforts to rehabilitate or maintain surrounding buildings; and
(4) Require additional regulation and services to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public.
(b) Owners of vacant buildings shall register such vacant buildings with the City, make payment of a fee as set forth herein, and otherwise conform to the requirements of this Vacant Structure Code.
(c) It is the intent of this article that, through a registration, inspection, and monitoring process, and other improved public safety efforts, vacant buildings will be kept weather tight and secure from trespassers, will provide safe entry to police officers and firefighters in times of emergency, will not impede private and/or public efforts to rehabilitate or maintain surrounding properties, and will not otherwise present a public hazard.
(d) It is the City’s further intent for the provisions of this article to streamline and consolidate the existing procedure (that is, complaint, research, notification, inspection, orders, fines, liens, appeals and lien enforcement) by placing the responsibility to register and maintain a vacant structure on the owner of a building before a condition of the building falls into disrepair or otherwise necessarily warrants a complaint. (Passed 10-11-16.)