Staff outline vacant-property registration proposal; council did not reach consensus

City staff from the Building and Fire Marshal’s offices presented a draft ordinance to register vacant properties and described expected benefits, proposed fees and operational needs.

Chief Building Official Karen Montanes and Fire Marshal Mike Smith told the committee the registration would create a central inventory of vacant residential and commercial properties, provide emergency contact information for first responders and could discourage long-term vacancies that generate calls for service.

The proposed ordinance would define vacant properties as structures not legally occupied for more than 30 consecutive days or for 180 days or more; exemptions would include properties actively under a building permit and primary residences where the owner temporarily leaves for up to six months. Montanes said security requirements for vacant properties could include boarding windows and doors, gates, additional locks, fencing, lighting or monitoring, and—where appropriate—crime-prevention measures such as landscaping adjustments.

Fee structure presented to council would charge annual registration fees scaled by building square footage, with sample tiers starting at the lowest square-foot category and commercial registrations cited at $1,000. Montanes said a $500 fine would apply for failure to register, and that the annual registration fee would increase 3.5% each year for continued vacancy; fees would be waived for government entities and 501(c)(3) nonprofits. She said individual dwelling units and multifamily buildings would be exempt unless 30% or more of units were unoccupied for 180 days after issuance of a certificate of occupancy.

Montanes said staff estimated roughly 15 known vacant residential properties and 46 vacant commercial units as of November; using a low-fee scenario she estimated first-year revenue at about $15,000. Staff asked a vendor to scope a registration workflow in the permitting system; the vendor estimate for developing and implementing the registration and payment workflow was about $7,000.

Staff said the registration program would require dedicated administrative work. Montanes described hiring a staff person whose duties would include launching the registry and supporting property maintenance, zoning enforcement and “work without permits” cases. “The first year would be a lot of leg work and admin work of this property… gathering all the information throughout the City of Englewood properties,” she said.

Council response: Montanes told the committee the council did not reach a consensus on whether to proceed and raised questions about penalties versus incentives for owners. Committee members noted commercial properties that are not nuisances are often left to normal leasing timelines and that the program could be scaled to focus on nuisance properties that generate police, fire or building calls for service.

Next steps: staff said the item was not scheduled to return immediately; the presentation and proposed ordinance remain available for further discussion, and staff offered to answer follow-up questions from the committee.