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## TOWN OF BRIDGEVILLE
If you lived here, you would be home now.
## ORDINANCE NO.: 17-1
## AN ORDINANCE CREATING A NEW CHAPTER OF THE CODE OF THE TOWN OF BRIDGEVILLE REQUIRING THE REGISTRATION OF ALL VACANT BUILDINGS AND DWELLINGS UNITS WITHIN THE TOWN OF BRIDGVILLE
THE COMMISSIONERS OF BRIDGEVILLE HEREBY ORDAIN:
Section 1. Create a new chapter of the Code of the Town of Bridgeville, entitled "Vacant Building Registration", to read as follows:
## Section 1. Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this these regulations is to protect the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Bridgeville, to monitor the number of vacant properties in the Town, and to assess the effects of these buildings on nearby property.
## Section 2. Vacancy
A building or dwelling or any other structure shall be deemed vacant if no person actually or currently conducts a lawfully licensed business, or lawfully resides in any part of the building as the legal or equitable owner or tenant on a permanent, nontransient basis. Rental buildings or dwellings who are actively seeking a tenant shall not be subject to this ordinance for a period of one hundred and eighty (180) days from the time the buildings becomes vacant, as described in this section.
## Section 3. Applicability
The requirements of this section shall be applicable to each owner of any building or property consisting of one or more dwellings that shall have been vacant for more than sixty (60) consecutive days. Each owner shall file a notarized vacant property registration statement, which shall include the street address and parcel number of each vacant building, the names and address of all owners, and any other information deemed necessary by the Town Manager, or their designee.
## Section 4. Registration Statement
Registration shall be required for all vacant buildings, whether vacant and secure, vacant and open or vacant and boarded, and shall be required whenever any building has remained vacant for sixty (60) consecutive days or more. Once a building has remained vacant for sixty (60) consecutive days, a registration statement and initial registration fee shall be required to be filed within thirty (30) days thereafter. In no instance shall the registration of a vacant building and the payment of registration fee be construed to exonerate the owner, agent or responsible party from responsibility for compliance with any other building code, housing code or property maintenance requirement. One registration statement may be filed to include all vacant buildings belonging to a single owner, however, a separate registration fee, as required by Subsection 5 of this Chapter, must be paid for each vacant property.
## Section 5. Registration Fee required.
The vacant building registration fee shall be set at $100.00 for the first calendar year in which the building is deemed vacant. The registration fee shall be set at $300 per year for years two through five that a building remains vacant. All buildings or dwellings that remain vacant for more than five years shall pay an annual registration fee of $500. A vacant building registration fee shall be nonrefundable. Should any owner of vacant building fail to pay the amount due, said amount shall constitute a debt due and owing to the Town, and the Town may commence a civil action to collect such unpaid debt.
## Section 6. Posting.
Upon proper registration and payment of prescribed fee, a placard, signed by the Town Manager or his/her designee, shall be issued to each vacant building. The placard must be displayed on the front of the building while the property remains vacant. Each placard shall be effective for the calendar year (January- December) in which it is issued.
## Section 7. Violations and Penalties.
Any person who violates or permits the violation of any provision of this Chapter, upon conviction thereof, shall pay such fines as set out in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, Penalties.
Section 2. If any sentence, clause, section, or part of this Ordinance is found to be unconstitutional, illegal, or invalid, such unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections, or parts of this Ordinance.
Section 3. This Ordinance shall become effective upon its adoption by a majority of all members elected to the Commissioners of Bridgeville.
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COMMISSIONERS OF BRIDGEVILLE
By: Patriia M. Correll
President
ecretary
First Reading: February 13, 2017
Second Reading: April 10, 2017
Adopted: April 10, 2017
## Synopsis
This ordinance will add a new Chapter to the Town Code of Bridgeville to monitor the number of vacant properties in the Town, and to assess the effects of these buildings on nearby property. Provisions are included that allow rental property owners sufficient time to find a tenants) prior to their building being deemed vacant.
[Draft20161216-JS] [Draft2-20170407-JS]