Houston council committee hears proposal to require fences around vacant commercial buildings; no action taken

Council Member Jackson introduced a proposed ordinance to the Prop A committee that would require property owners to “fence the perimeter of the property within 10 days of the commercial property becoming vacant,” a provision described by Christopher Shanahan, interim deputy assistant director for community code enforcement at Houston Public Works.

The proposal was discussed at length by public works staff and council members on Oct. 25, but the committee took no formal action because a quorum was not present. Rudy Moreno, deputy director of Houston Public Works, and Shanahan laid out operational and legal challenges the department would face if the ordinance is adopted.

Why it matters: Jackson said vacant commercial properties in his district have become sites for illegal dumping, graffiti, squatting and other nuisance activity, and that fencing could reduce those problems. "We haven't talked with HPD, but again, it's common sense," Jackson said when asked whether police had endorsed the measure.

Public Works officials said the ordinance as drafted would create several practical burdens. The draft defines a vacant commercial structure as one that has been unoccupied and “not used for any legal business activity for seven nonconsecutive days in a 30-day period.” Staff told the committee that using nonconsecutive days to establish vacancy would require repeated site visits — a significant demand on inspectors’ time.

Shan…