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Jasper amends unsafe-structures ordinance to exempt legally occupied buildings with utilities
Summary
The city adopted an ordinance amendment narrowing the definition of "building" in its unsafe-structures and dangerous-buildings code to exempt structures legally occupied by an owner or tenant that have active water and electric service; illegally occupied structures remain subject to the ordinance.
The Jasper City Council adopted an amendment to the city's unsafe-structures and dangerous-buildings ordinance that exempts from the ordinance's definition of "building" any structure legally occupied by an owner or tenant that has active water and electric service.
Attorney Roberts Robertson summarized the change, saying it "exempts from our definition of a building, a structure which is legally occupied by either an owner or a tenant. It will not exempt structures that are illegally occupied, such as by squatters, and which has active water and electric service." He added that, under the amendment, if a structure is habitable in the opinion of the owner or tenant and utilities can be connected, it would be exempt from the unsafe-buildings rules.
Council members moved and adopted the ordinance with no recorded public comment during the hearing. The ordinance, as described by the city attorney, is intended to distinguish habitability and lawful occupancy from unsafe or abandoned structures; the amendment does not protect buildings that are illegally occupied or without utility service.
The council did not provide the ordinance number in the meeting transcript. City staff and the city attorney will follow established code-enforcement procedures to apply the amended definition when evaluating unsafe or dangerous structures.
Quote (city attorney): "So it will not exempt structures that are illegally occupied, such as by squatters, and which has active water and electric service."
