Success!!!

Citizens were heard as Ypsi City Council passes vacant buildings ordinance. Council amended the ordinance to remove the onerous provision of the $50 escrow fee if you did nothing wrong except for the fact the building was empty for 12 months. Council also agreed that triggering events such as a traffic accident in your front yard or materials stolen from your construction site that resulted in a police report would not be triggering events. There are still problems between definitions defined in the recent amendment for vacant buildings that conflict with already prescribed definitions in the dangerous buildings law and the city council should have toughened the ordinance and made it like the St. Paul ordinance where scofflaws pay a $250 annual fee rather then trying to collect $65 after each inspection. This would have covered our costs to administer the program rather then draining more money from the general fund.

Overall, the outcome was good and home owners are better protected. Was this the perfect ordinances? By no means. But it is MUCH better than it was just 4 weeks ago. Hats off to everyone in the community that worked so hard on this issue. And a special tip of the hat to councilor Bill Nickels for proposing the amendments and to councilors Filipiak, Gawlas, Richardson and Swanson that all asked hard-nosed questions that showed that they cared about what citizens had to say. As the meeting broke up Mayor Farmer was heard to exclaim in a very loud voice to several members in the press that all of this politicking and blogging didn't make a bit of difference. I guess we will have to agree to disagree, Madame Mayor. What the citizens did working together on this blog, sharing information and talking to neighbors made a huge difference and the changes made to the ordinance will positively impact Ypsilantian's for years to come. If nothing else, it got the mayor and others to read a community blog. Cheers! - Steve

Another unjust law riddled with unintended consequences

Read Rodney Nanney's letter to city council about VBO.

Urge Ypsi Council to review VBO with community

Read Joe Lawrence's excellent Other Voices Column from the Ypsilanti Courier (Feb 23, 2005).

City's vacant building ordinance 'unfair' to property owners

"I have been carefully studying the city of Ypsilanti's new vacant building ordinance for over a month and there are significant and troubling flaws that will hurt more people than are helped by this law."

Read the entire Other Voices Column by Steve Pierce from the Ypsilanti Courier (Feb 17, 2005).

Citizens to city council: there’s still time to do the right thing! The St. Paul Ordinance

Check out the St. Paul, Minnesota ordinance and compare it Ypsilanti's. St. Paul's is fair, easy to read, goes after the bad guys, and doesn't punish people that properly maintain their property. Don't forget, you have to read both Ypsilanti ordinances, because the second ordinance amends the first.

The St. Paul, MN Vacant Building Ordinance

Vacant Buildings Ordinance passed Jan 21, 2003 [download]

Ammended Vacant Buildings Ordinance First Reading passed Feb 1, 2005 [download]

17 Frequently Unanswered Questions

The following information is intended to address some of the numerous questions that the City of Ypsilanti has failed to answer about the 2005 Vacant Buildings Ordinance.

Question #5: How will the city know if my property is vacant?

The ordinance requires you to register your property if it is empty more than 30 days. City inspectors said they already know the problem properties and will be searching for vacant properties that have not been reported. City staff testified that neighbors can also report properties that they suspect are vacant and the staff will investigate the report. City staff said they had ways to determine if a property was vacant using state databases like driver’s licenses, voter registrations, and other public records. City staff also testified that they can check to see if utilities like gas, electricity, and water have been disconnected...

Read the entire Frequently Unanswered Questions.

Council takes long look at vacant buildings rule

Read the article in the Feb 10, 2005 Ypsilanti Courier and then read Kathleen Conat's editorial, Vacant buildings rule still needs to be 'user friendly'.

Short-term fixes and short cuts will not fix long term problems

Brian Robb of the East-Cross Street blog has writen two very good articles about some of the issues facing the community as the city council prepares for a final vote on the Vacant Buildings Ordinance

Read Brian's posts from Feb 2, 2005 and Feb 6, 2005.

Request a NotVacant.com sign for your building

Get the sign that is sweeping Ypsilanti. Free!!

Three sizes are available.
8x10, 11x17 and 24x36.

Send us an email with your name and address and we will rush deliver your sign to you.

Ann Arbors News Story

The Ann Arbor News got the story right when they wrote:

Ypsilanti to charge for vacant buildings

"Resident Joe Lawrence told the council that the provision will impact innocent landowners who take good care of their properties. Instead, the city ought to go after landlords with dilapidated property."

"Assistant City Attorney John Gilbreath, who helped draft the ordinance, said the council and city residents have been concerned about vacant buildings for three years, and if the city were to remain idle, the buildings could become a safety concern. "I don't think it is over-reaching," he said.

Michael Lasive, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a nonpartisan research and educational institution, disagrees. If public safety is not at risk and the property is maintained, the measure seems to be unnecessary, he said.

"Governments should not plan every facet of citizens' lives," Lasive said." [View entire article]

Download Documents

A list of Documents available for download:

Vacant Buildings Ordinance passed Jan 21, 2003 (880KB) [download]

First Ammended Vacant Buildings Ordinance First Reading Jul 1, 2003 (Never brought back for second reading) (879KB) [download]

Second Ammended Vacant Buildings Ordinance First Reading Feb 1, 2005 (106KB) [download]

Dangerous Buildings Ordinance passed Jan 21, 2003 (632KMB) [download]

First Ammended Dangerous Buildings Ordinance First Reading Jul 1, 2005 (Unknown final status) (1.8MB) [download]

Flow Chart Documenting Enforcement Process from Emtpy to Vacant to Dangerous Buildings (255KB) [download]

Buildings Identified by City of Ypsilanti as either Dangerous or Vacant updated 2004-Dec-16 (520KB) [download]

Buildings Identified by City of Ypsilanti as either Dangerous or Vacant updated 2003-Mar-28 (865KB) [download]

Staff Memo to City Council 2004-12-16 (262KB) [download]