New Castle County Executive Marcus Henry recently signed into law a vacant property ordinance.
The ordinance allows the county to increase the existing vacant registration fees and the fees will gradually increase each year.
The new law also requires an inspection of vacant premises when the building or structure has been vacant for five consecutive years.
Dave Culver is the New Castle County General Manager of Land Use.
"We also added the requirement for placards to be placed on any unsafe buildings that are also vacant,” said Culver. “This will help our public safety folks: Police, fire, EMS if there is a call to a vacant property. If they go to the house, if they see this unsafe placard they know when they go in there to be extremely careful, that it could be structurally unsound, or there could be other hazards within that property."
The safety issue involving vacant properties isn’t solely a first responders problem.
Culver says vacant properties can also be unsafe for those living near them.
"As time goes on, if the house or the property lost all its utilities, there could be flooding inside there could be other issues inside the house. It could become structurally unsound. That's where we really have the issue is that when it becomes structurally unsound, it could collapse affecting properties adjacent to it," said Culver.
The new law also addresses concerns with neighborhood blight, housing inventory and public safety around the use of parking lots of large, vacant structures.
While it will bring the county additional revenue, officials stress it’s about protecting the communities – especially those who live near vacant properties.
The legislation approved by County Council was sponsored by Councilman John Cartier.
