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Council discusses replacing dangerous‑structures ordinance and licensing outside counsel to streamline condemnations
Summary
City staff described gaps in Fairhope’s 2011 dangerous‑structures ordinance and proposed using a licensed, tested legal program and revised ordinance to improve notice, title searches and enforcement for abandoned or unsafe properties; council members expressed general support but no formal vote occurred during the work session.
Eric (building department official) briefed the Fairhope City Council on the limits of the city’s current ordinance for condemning unsafe or abandoned structures and on operational challenges including locating absentee owners and tracking multi‑owner properties.
Eric said the current ordinance (enacted in 02/2011) sets a high threshold for condemnation — for example, structural listing or 33% deterioration — and that many nuisance conditions such as overgrown yards, hoarding, tarped roofs or interior fire hazards do not meet that…
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