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<br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />Hon. Mayor and Members of Council <br />City Manager <br /> <br />FROM: <br /> <br />Eric Helms Monday, City Attorney <br /> <br />RE: <br /> <br />Options for Remedying Blight <br /> <br />DATE: <br /> <br />November 8, 2006 <br /> <br />What laws are on the books to combat blight? <br /> <br />Note: A locality may not condemn a building simply because it is an eyesore. Also, <br />aesthetic considerations alone do not justify the exercise of local police powers to <br />regulate or control private property. Nevertheless, a locality may adopt a number of <br />measures to address nuisance issues. <br /> <br />Building Code Violations <br />The Uniform Statewide Building Code, already adopted by the City, authorizes the <br />Building Inspector to order correction of violations, however, this requires a fifteen-day <br />notification period, and, if the owner fails to correct, would require the City to correct the <br />problem and bill the owner. Its primary drawback is the delay in enforcement, lack of <br />criminal penalties, and drain on City manpower. <br /> <br />Unsafe Structures and Situations <br />Section 15.2-900 of the State Code allows a locality to sue to compel a responsible party <br />to abate a public nuisance. A public nuisance includes but is not limited to, any <br />dangerous or unhealthy substances that have been released, spilled or accumulated and <br />unsafe, dangerous or unsanitary buildings, walls or structures. A locality can take <br />immediate action to abate a nuisance if it poses an immediate and imminent threat and <br />can recover the cost of the abatement from the owner. The City has such an ordinance. <br /> <br />Property Maintenance-Garbage, Weeds, Etc. <br />Section 15.2-901 of the State Code authorizes a locality to adopt an ordinance requiring a <br />property owner to remove trash, garbage, refuse, litter and other substances which might <br />endanger the safety of residents and to require property owners to cut grass, weeds or <br />other foreign growth on vacant developed or undeveloped property. The locality can <br />perform the removal or cutting if the owner fails to do so after having been given <br />reasonable notice and to bill the owner for the costs. A lien can be placed on the property <br />for unpaid costs and such lien has the same priority as a lien for unpaid taxes. The <br />locality can waive the lien in order to effectuate the sale ofthe property. The City has <br />such an ordinance in place already, and it includes a criminal penalty for repeat offenders. <br />