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City Council on Monday introduced a pair of ordinances intended to make it easier for the Department of Codes & Inspections to deal with blight.
One ordinance makes code condemnations applicable to properties, rather than their owners, so they remain in effect when properties are sold; while the other ordinance creates categories for vacant property registrations, so the city can better dedicate the right kind of resources to them, depending on the severity of the problems they cause, according to codes Director Rebecca Brown.
The ordinance that ties code condemnations to properties, rather than ownership, will eliminate the problem of properties that have been red-tagged, or declared unfit for habitation, being sold at tax sale -- after which the department now needs to restart the condemnation process "at square one," solicitor Tom Finn said.
"This should help significantly," Finn said.
"It's another tool," said Mayor Matt Pacifico.
Act 101 of 2020, on which the condemnation ordinance is based, "corrects a major deficiency in current law," stated prime sponsor state Sen. John DiSanto, R-Dauphin/Perry, in a news release in October, when the law was passed.
Redoing condemnations after property sales resulted in the waste of "significant time," according to DiSanto.
The other new city ordinance will divide registered vacant properties into those deemed "neglected," "derelict" and "unsafe," according to Brown.
Neglected properties are those that, while vacant, are well-maintained -- ones whose owners may be postponing a decision about whether to sell or rent, she said.
Derelict properties are those that are not well-maintained, have been vacant longer than neglected properties and have open and unresolved code violations, Brown said.
Unsafe properties are "the worst of the worst," she said.
The ordinance calls for inspection regimens and fee payments commensurate with the categories, according to Brown.
The regimen for unsafe properties includes inspections by the fire department, to judge how to handle them in case of a blaze, according to City Manager Ken Decker.
Such inspections could lead to a determination to let a property burn, depending on the soundness of its floors, for example, he said.
The regimen also gives the city permission to hire an outside engineering firm to inspect such properties, Brown said.
Because some owners seek to bar entry, the ordinance also allows the city to seek entry warrants from magisterial district judges, Decker said.
There are also provisions in the city's vacant property ordinance that allow for cost recovery, asset attachment and permit denials, according to Decker.
The city hasn't used asset attachment, but has discussed it, Brown said.
If there is a mortgage on a property, asset attachment can't be used, however, she said.
Even on a mortgaged property, though, civil suits are permissible, she said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.