Biddeford to create registry for vacant buildings

Biddeford will now require vacant buildings to be on a registry.

A new ordinance, which passed Tuesday, will require buildings that have been “devoid of lawful and consistent human use or activity” for more than 60 days be listed on a city registry of vacant buildings.

Property owners will not be charged for their vacant buildings to be put on the registry for an initial six-month period. If, after six months, the building is still vacant, the listing on the registry must be renewed for $300. If, after 12 months, the building is still vacant, it’s listing on the registry will have to be renewed for $600. If, after eighteen months it is still on the registry, it will have to renewed for $1200, and subsequent renewals will cost $2400.

There are some exceptions including primary residences of people on active military duty, homes owned by seasonal residents, properties undergoing repairs due to fire or natural disasters, situations where a property owner is “demonstrating hardship,” properties under construction that haven’t been issued an occupancy permit and, with approval from the code enforcement office, agricultural buildings.

An example of a hardship that would excuse a property owner from having to register on the list could a house in the foreclosure process because the owner couldn’t afford the mortgage, Code Enforcement Officer Roby Fecteau.

“There’s no scripted method on how we’re going to apply this, but there is a case-by-case basis that has to be established,” said Fecteau.

Resident Kayla Lewis asked the Council to consider delaying a vote and bringing the new ordinance draft back to the planning committee for more fine tuning. Multi-unit buildings with only one unit occupied are not considered vacant, and Lewis said that this should be reviewed. She suggested the council look at percentages, so that, for example, if a 60-unit building was more than 40 percent empty it could be considered vacant.

City Councilor Dylan Doughty said that while the city may need to work on some things down the road, the ordinance change was “a huge step forward.”

“I do think it’s a step in the right direction,” he said.

Fecteau said there are 12 or so buildings that have been vacant for more than a year that the ordinance would apply to “right out of the gate.” He said in 2008, when the market crashed, there were about 50 vacant buildings in Biddeford. If city officials needed to contact the owner of a vacant building, it was often difficult to contact them. A registry would make it easier for the city to contact vacant building owners, banks and mortgage companies, said Fecteau.

Saco Bay News Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.