Councilors urge stronger enforcement of vacant-property rules after members cite uncollected fines and long-standing blight
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Summary
Several council members pressed city staff on July 21 for tougher enforcement of the vacant-property registry, fines and boarded-up houses, citing uncollected fines and persistent neighborhood blight; no ordinance changes were adopted at the meeting but councilors asked that the issue be placed on an agenda for action.
Council members on July 21 pressed city departments and each other over enforcement of the vacant-property registry, unpaid fines and longstanding boarded-up houses that residents say are harming neighborhoods.
Council member Jones described a case in his ward and said the building department's violation records show multiple citations but "Not a 1 of them. We have not received a dime for any of these. None of them." Jones said one property had reached a third citation level where the penalty is $500 and said repeated nonappearance in court prevents collection.
Council member Robinson said he has convened the building commissioner and planning staff and while he wants action he needs a formal vehicle to change ordinances or fines: "I'll put it on the agenda tomorrow," he said, offering to introduce measures if colleagues specify the language. Council member Jenkins urged attention to the vacant registry and said he had identified "millions of dollars in fines that we should have collected" since he took office, and asked staff for a status report and collection figures.
No ordinance amendments or formal votes on enforcement changes occurred during the meeting. Council members repeatedly called for follow-up: reports from development services on the vacant registry, accounting of fines collected, and potential ordinance updates to increase enforcement and remedy long-term blight.
Speakers emphasized neighborhood impacts, including safety and property values. Staff or committee responses and specific implementation steps were not recorded in the meeting minutes; councilors requested follow-up information from development services.