Vacant properties owners in Wilmington will now face civil fines and penalties if their properties are violating licensing and inspection codes.
An ordinance passed by City Council this week gives owners more time to pay the fines and appeal, but mainly changes violations from criminal to civil.
Council members say criminal penalties have not been effective in deterring code violations on vacant properties, and they believe civil fines will be a greater deterrent.
The first offense is a misdemeanor, with a fine of at least $250, but no more than $1000. Corporations can be fined as much as $5000. Each week a violation goes unresolved will count as a separate offense, and fines increase with each violation.
Its sponsor, Councilwoman Maria Cabrera, says neighbors of these properties suffer most – and communities with more vacant, degenerating properties have higher crime rates.
The ordinance also gives the city an opportunity to seize a property if violations go unchecked.
“Whether it’s a leaky roof that is affecting your neighbors, whether it’s broken down stairs, whether it's the facade, whether it's something inside, a busted plumbing, whether its windows and people are breaking into it and doing what they do, what this does is holds them accountable for keeping those properties in order," Cabrera says.
Councilman Vincent White adds property owners have a duty to protect and safeguard their properties, and those who don’t should lose them.
“We could cite neighborhood after neighborhood, be it 25th and Tatnall, 23rd and West, that you look to your right and you look to your left and you see something that you don’t want to live near, and you wouldn’t want your fellow citizens to live near," White says.
Cabrera notes sometimes owners can’t afford to fix and maintain their properties, and she wants to find ways to help those owners get their lots up to code.
The ordinance passed with nine ‘yes’ votes, three absent, and Zanthia Oliver voting “present.”
