A bill expected to be decided by Springfield City Council tonight addresses nuisance properties in the city.
On May 26th, council took the first step in dealing with nuisance properties by unanimously passing an ordinance to create a series of penalties for property owners who continue to fail to maintain their property. It also clarified changes concerning special tax bills and additions to real estate tax bills and codified due-process-of-law provisions for enforcement actions.
The bill to be voted on tonight would replace the existing Chapter 74 Nuisance and Housing Code. Brendan Griesemer, city planning and development manager, says the proposed changes came out of concerns raised by the Neighborhood Advisory Council and by neighbors at listening sessions earlier this year.
He says residents in the northwest neighborhoods felt the nuisance property code wasn’t strong enough.
"The neighborhoods felt that there was not enough teeth in the ordinance or that they were outdated, sot they had asked the city to take a close look at those and see what we could do," he said.
He says the city’s building development services department put together revisions to the nuisance property code.
"Our hope is what we will see out of this is a consistent, clear enforcement as we move forward to ensure that our property owners are held responsible for their properties that they control," he said.
According to a statement from the city, the new code is “more clear, better aligns with state law, holds property owners responsible for compliance and allows for better and more timely enforcement and abatement.”
Under the proposed code, property owners would be notified of nuisances on their property. The property owners would then have 15 business days to respond to the notice or improve the condition of the property.
After 15 business days, if the property owner has not responded to the nuisance notice, the city could abate the nuisance at the owner’s expense. Costs of abatement would be recovered through assessments, real estate taxes and property liens.
The proposed code removes the tenant from the equation, as well as the requirement to hold a hearing each time a nuisance property needs to be abated.
