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City solicitor reports progress on vacant building registration and other legal matters
Summary
Senior solicitor Dave Sobchik said the city's revised vacant building registration enforcement is producing results: properties no longer vacant rose and the number of properties not registered fell. He also detailed other legal work including tax-acquired property rules and pending Rule 80K hearings.
Dave Sobchik, senior city solicitor, told the council the legal department moved back to the old City Hall and provided an update on enforcement of the revised vacant building registration ordinance and other legal work.
Sobchik cited spreadsheet metrics showing progress since enforcement began: properties identified as "no longer vacant" rose from 31 to 47; properties on the vacant-property list fell from 75 to 68; properties registered and current rose from 47 to 53; and properties not registered declined from 28 to 15.
"So since the last time I updated you, there have been additional 16 properties that are no longer vacant that were on our vacant property list," Sobchik said. He described the work as letters, phone calls and discussions and said most compliance happened without litigation; two properties are in early litigation stages and three have complaints drafted.
Sobchik also summarized other legal efforts: continued attention to Rule 80K cases (Bangor Mall matters set for continuation on Sept. 22), a new process to comply with a recently revised state statute governing tax-acquired properties (which requires sale through a real estate broker at the highest price), and increasing Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) requests requiring cross-department coordination.
He praised the city's homeless-response staff for coordination in recent encampment work and said the legal department has helped craft template communications for code enforcement to notify owners about deferrals allowed under the revised ordinance (six-month deferrals for active building permits or casualty events).
No formal council action was taken at the workshop on these legal items; Sobchik's presentation was an informational update.
