During the Richmond City Commissioners Workshop that took place last Thursday city officials shared a draft of an ordinance that would impose fees on vacant commecial properties within the City. The draft will likely se changes before being voted on by commissioners but according to the draft it would require owners of vacant properties to register their properties after a certain time.
According to the website Richmond-In depth, a year after initial registration, properties that remain vacant will be subject to a fee of $500. After two years, another fine would be imposed, this time for $1,000. The fee would continue to increase, with a fine of $2,000 for properties that have been vacant for three to four years, $3,500 for years five to nine, and $5,000 for 10 years or more vacant. There is also a fee for failure to register.
If the ordinance is passed then property owners would be required to keep contact information on the building so that city officials know who to quickly get in touch about any issues with the property. The draft ordinance would include properties in the Mill District, but commissioners stated they might want to expand that area so that could be revised once the ordinance is brought forth during the bi-weekly commissioners meeting.
