Vacant Building License

All owners of vacant buildings are required to license their vacant buildings within 90 days of a building becoming vacant or when a vacant building is purchased, transferred, assigned, or acquired.  Vacant building must be relicensed every six months.

A vacant building is a residential or commercial building which is lacking habitual presence of natural persons who have a legal right to be on the premises, or at which substantially all lawful business operations or residential occupancy has ceased with the exception of garages or accessory building not intended for human occupancy. Any building in which more than one-half of the total exterior windows and doors are broken, boarded or not present without functioning locks is to be deemed vacant regardless of the occupancy.  Accessory buildings such as sheds and garages, accessory to the primary use of the building on a property are not required to get a license (e.g. sheds or car garages).
 
Licensing application contact information is collected from property owner/managers for the purpose of:

  • Scheduling inspections
  • Emergency service notification
  • Trespassing enforcement
  • Outreach and education
License Fees to cover the cost of the program are $300 per building for each six month period. The fee escalates at 2 times the prior year fee for each additional year a building continues as vacant regardless of ownership.  License Fees cover the cost of:

A license application for a vacant building is required to submit a Statement of Intent including the expected period of vacancy, the plan for care, maintenance and security of the property during the vacancy, code compliance, and a plan and timeline for lawful occupancy, rehabilitation, removal, or demolition of the building.

For further detail see the City Code Chapter 149, Article VI: Vacant Buildings.

VACANT BUILDING LICENSE APPLICATION