11/08/2024
Great short read on keeping communities vibrant and flourishing!
Vacant property harms communities. Vacant and deteriorating properties increase crime, lower property values, shrink the tax base, hurt community morale, repel potential tenants, investors, and tourists, and foster widespread apathy. No community should suffer due to vacant properties. Every city and town has the legal authority to establish rules around what can be built, how property is used, and how it must be maintained. Unfortunately, we’ve been intimidated by anti-regulation rhetoric to the point where we believe we don’t have a say—or worse, sympathize with those who neglect their properties and defend their “right” not to maintain them.
Let me explain. Communities set laws to establish collective standards, essentially saying, “These are our expectations as a community, and here’s how we’ll enforce them.” This includes theft laws, speed limits, and building codes. Such regulations exist to protect residents and their investments. We all understand the value of these laws and why they must be enforced. Property maintenance laws are no different—they mitigate risk and protect property values. Without these protections, investing becomes too risky. I don’t want to develop a building in a place where my neighbor has no obligation to maintain their property. No one does. That’s why investment stagnates in these areas: the risk is too high.
By failing to enforce existing laws, we signal that they can be ignored. If people saw cars speeding past a police officer at 90 miles per hour without consequences, they’d assume speeding is allowed. This is the same message we send to negligent property owners when we don’t enforce standards.
The costs of vacant and declining buildings are enormous, while the benefits of addressing this issue are countless. Stop waiting for change in your town; be the change. Don’t stand by. Speak up, be vocal. Don’t defend neglectful owners—call them what they are: lawbreakers. Demand action. Some will say nothing can be done. They’re wrong. Thousands of towns have already succeeded. If anyone argues about property rights, remind them that property rights are meant to protect responsible owners, not shield negligent ones. If a council member or city attorney claims it’s illegal to hold vacant property owners accountable, show them the many examples where it’s been done successfully.
Standards decline quickly but are much harder to raise. Improving a community requires setting higher standards and enforcing them. The fight against vacant property is worthwhile and winnable. Many in your community feel the same way. Everything requires maintenance, and property owners know this; they just often avoid the time and cost. Ownership isn’t an absolute right—if someone can’t maintain their property, they should lose that privilege because it affects everyone else.
The vacant property registry legislation in Painesville, Ohio captures this perfectly: “Shifting the cost burden from the general citizenry to the owners of the blighted buildings will be the result of this chapter.”
