City staff outlines vacant-structure registration plan for downtown, suggests phased approach and education period

City staff presented an overview of a possible vacant-structure registration ordinance designed to reduce blight, decrease criminal activity and encourage redevelopment in downtown Shawnee. Staff recommended a phased, targeted approach with a period of education and negotiation for property owners before penalties or fees apply.

Joe Bondren, a city staff member, told commissioners the problem included "blight that can be created, unfavorable aesthetics," decreased property values and safety risks such as fire hazards when vacant buildings are breached. Bondren said staff had surveyed about 20 model ordinances and distilled nine points the commission should consider, grouped into registration, tracking and penalties.

The nine elements staff highlighted included: an enforced registry that multiple city agencies (police, fire, code enforcement) can add properties to; required annual inspections; a licensure-style registry with annual fees that can escalate the longer a property remains vacant; minimum aesthetic standards for commercial façades in key corridors; a period of education and negotiated improvement plans before fines; a requirement that absentee owners name a local agent for emergency response; progressive fees and penalties; proof of liability insurance for registered vacant buildings; and a phased geographic and temporal rollout so staff capacity is not overwhelmed.

Bondren said other municipalities reported success when police or fire could place properties on a registry immediately after an incident and when the city targeted small geographic areas to work out administrative kinks before broader implementation. He recommended that if the commission was interested staff could draft an ordinance for consideration at the next meeting and suggested an effective date no earlier than Sept. 1 to allow education and negotiation with owners.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about whether vacant land would be covered, how quickly identification of vacant structures would occur, and whether fees should differ by residential versus commercial buildings. Bondren said some model ordinances included vacant land for minimum-aesthetic requirements, but typical code enforcement for vacant lots focuses on weed and nuisance codes; identification methods ranged from systematic sweeps of a defined downtown area to an organic accumulation of properties reported by fire, police or code enforcement; and most ordinances set separate, typically lower, fees for residential structures versus commercial properties.

Staff emphasized the administrative workload of inspection and enforcement and advised a targeted geographic rollout to match current staffing levels. No ordinance was adopted at the meeting; staff asked for direction and, if the commission desires, said a draft could be ready next month for further discussion.