City public hearing next week on vacant structure registry

City public hearing next week on vacant structure registry News Staff Fri, 06/14/2024 - 10:10 am

• (ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Three city of Graham public hearings will be held Tuesday, June 18 at the Graham council chambers at 608 Elm St.

Thomas Wallner editor@grahamleader.com

Along with a special-called meeting of the Graham City Council, next week will be a public hearing on establishing a registry of vacant structures within the boundaries of the Downtown Development District.

The public hearing is one of three scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 18 at the Graham council chambers at 608 Elm St. The other two hearings are regarding rezoning downtown district to mixed use commercial and residential and an annexation of a 26.099 acres of land at Graham Municipal Airport and the Hwy. 380 Right of Ways Tract.

The city is looking to create a vacant structure registry by ordinance. The registry would require owners of properties within the district to have their vacant buildings inspected for safety and requires them to pay a fee for vacant structures which meet conditions of the ordinance.

“We are trying to create some type of incentive for those property owners to be motivated to get a tenant and be usable spaces,” Assistant City Manager Grant Ingram said Wednesday, May 8. “It helps our downtown, it helps our current businesses when there's more activity. When there's more foot traffic, more business, it helps us with our sales tax. And so this will be a registry where there is a registration fee and an inspection fee. Code enforcement will walk through to make sure that the building itself is up to code.”

One of the safety measures in the ordinances requires the owners to provide a floor plan of the property for use by first responders in the event of a fire or emergency.

The registry will create a record of vacant structures in the downtown district and a $250 annual cost requirement for owners of those structures.

Part of the notice to register the properties includes for owners to complete a comprehensive plan of action detailing a timeline for corrections of violations, rehabilitation, maintenance while vacant and future use of the structure. This will be required to be updated annually when the structure is on the registry.

Owners must provide a legal description of the property as well as the details regarding the property. They must also provide proof of liability insurance of no less than $100,000 for the property or a surety bond for the value of the structure.

Under the ordinance, the city must be notified of a change in ownership of the property or a change in the contact information for either the owner, or designated manager, no later than 30 days after change.

The city’s enforcement of the new ordinances would be by written notice of a violation which would then move to a criminal citation.

Failure to register with the Graham Code Enforcement Department after notice from the city is a violation of the ordinance. Violation of the ordinance would be a Class C misdemeanor which could result in a fine that would not exceed $500.

Under this ordinance, vacant means any structure that has an inactive city utility account, is used solely for the purpose of personal/business storage or has been actively listed for sale or lease for a minimum of 90 days.

“We've identified maybe 10 to 12 properties in our Downtown Development District that would fall under this category,” Ingram said in May. “I've looked at different communities across the state that have implemented this program and it has spurred development, so we're hoping that it will catch on and that maybe we can get some more business and some more activity.”

The registry would not apply to single-family structures used for residential purposes, duplex structures used for residential purposes and accessory facilities located on a parcel which serve as support facilities to the primary structure, such as storage sheds or garages.

Some of the advantages being proposed by the city include enhancing public safety through vacant building inspections, bringing the existing structure up to code and encouraging the owner to rent out the structure.

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