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Chelsea community group urges stronger enforcement of abandoned-property tools, backs motel ordinance
Summary
A Chelsea neighborhood representative told Atlantic City Council that property owners — many not local — are leaving dozens of vacant or blighted properties that impose costs on taxpayers; she urged enforcement of the city’s Abandoned Properties Act, collection of a $500 vacant-property fee and use of foreclosure and code tools.
Elizabeth Taranick, speaking as a representative of a Chelsea neighborhood community organization, asked the council to use existing city ordinances and enforcement tools to address a large number of vacant and blighted properties she said burden residents and city services.
Taranick told council members that Chelsea has about 103 vacant properties — including lots and buildings — and that owners frequently do not live in Atlantic City. “Taxpayers are paying the cost to maintain these properties as they demand additional services from police, code, public works, and fire,” she said during public comment. She added that when properties become unsecured they can attract dumping, trespass and arson risk.
Taranick outlined several legal and administrative tools she urged the city to use: the Abandoned Properties Act, a vacant-property fee she described as $500, tax-foreclosure processes for properties that have not paid taxes (she cited an example of a property on Pacific Avenue that had not paid taxes since 2017), and code enforcement. She said the Abandoned Properties Act allows the city to take control of property and, if needed, lien other properties owned by the same person when the cost of improvement exceeds the property’s value.
She also said Chelsea community organizations are sharing data and sometimes purchasing and rehabbing properties, and she told the council the neighborhood groups have met with some absentee owners to explain the city’s tools. Taranick told council members she supports a motel ordinance on the city’s agenda at the Sept. 17 meeting.
Why it matters: Taranick framed the issue as a fiscal and public-safety concern — unpaid taxes, added municipal service costs and deteriorating neighborhood conditions — and urged the city to apply ordinances the community group believes already authorize stronger action.
What the record shows: Taranick cited local counts (about 103 vacant properties in Chelsea), described the $500 vacant-property fee as on the books though she said enforcement has been limited, and recommended use of foreclosure and abandoned-property processes. The council did not take formal action during her public comment; she indicated support for an agenda motel ordinance that same night.
Questions raised: Council members asked about how the Chelsea group compiled property values and the number of listings; Taranick said valuation used city tax-assessor figures and offered to distribute her packet to council members. She also discussed—during follow-up with council—how the city determines when a property meets the abandoned thresholds (six months vacant plus at least one other statutory criterion, such as repeated code complaints). The transcript shows staff described a multi-step review to place a property on the abandoned list.
