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Cold Water council introduces contentious property‑maintenance overhaul after hours of public comment
Summary
The council voted to introduce ordinance 885, updating the city's property‑maintenance code to add a make‑safe/demolish procedure and hearing officer process; residents warned the change could displace vulnerable homeowners and called for grants and worker‑support alternatives.
The Cold Water City Council voted March 9 to introduce ordinance 885, a comprehensive amendment to the city's International Property Maintenance Code that would add a make‑safe/demolish procedure and a hearing officer pathway for properties deemed dangerous.
City attorney Amanda Bole told the council the update codifies an existing state housing‑law mechanism designed to address long‑abandoned or structurally dangerous residential properties while adding more notice, extensions and opportunities for interested parties to appear. Bole said the aim is to provide "a lot of due process" and tools for cases where owners cannot be located, are outside Michigan or properties have languished through probate.
The ordinance as…
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