Mobile council committee reviews proposed vacant-building registry and safety rules for downtown

At a committee of the whole meeting, Mobile City officials reviewed a proposed ordinance that would require owners of vacant commercial properties inside the Hank Aaron Loop to register their buildings, install basic alarm monitoring tied to 911 and provide Knox-box access for first responders.

Ricardo Woods, the city attorney, said the measure is meant to improve public safety and economic vitality by making it easier to locate and verify vacant properties and to ensure life‑safety systems are present. "If we take that step out of it and we put it actually on the owner, then we take that step out," Woods said, describing the registry as a "forcing function" to encourage compliance and reduce the need for city staff to track down owners.

Mr. McNair, who presented the background for the ordinance, cited a past downtown fire at the Hoffman Furniture building as an example of the hazards posed by vacant structures without alarms or…