A downtown building at the corner of Second Street and Willson Avenue is an example of a commercial property that would be subject to the conditions of the new ordinance regarding vacant property. It is now owned by the city. But under its previous ownership, the city could not enter the building to determine its structural integrity.

After a year of dealing with dilapidated and vacant properties, the City Council of Webster City on Monday passed the first reading of a measure that will regulate abandoned properties.

It also agreed to study an additional change to the City Code of Ordinances that would cover residential rental units.

“Staff continues to find abandoned commercial, industrial and residential properties across the city,” City Development Director Ariel Bertran told the council in her council memorandum that accompanied the official agenda.

Indeed, the city’s budget for derelict property acquisition and abatement has gone from $60,000 for fiscal year 2024 to $100,000 for fiscal year 2025.

Bertran suggested it may need to be increased even further in future.

The new ordinance will repeal and replace the current ordinance and require property owners to register vacant buildings. Owners of these buildings would pay a fee to register their vacant structure, and the fee would increase with the duration of the vacancy.

The first-year fee for vacant buildings is $250 for a residence and $1,000 each for commercial or industrial buildings.

Owners of vacant properties would be required to maintain them to prevent further deterioration or creation of a new public nuisance. Detailed specific guidelines for maintenance are contained in a new checklist.

Vacant property owners would have to submit a plan and schedule showing they are working to see the buildings gainfully occupied.

Bertran offered the former K-Mart building as an example of why the new ordinance is needed. It has been vacant since 2018.

“The new measure will mandate an inspection of the property to ensure it remains in safe condition until sold or leased,” she said.

In a separate but related measure, the council discussed a new rental property ordinance and program, agreeing it needs further study. This was proposed by the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission after city staff “identified several rental dwellings in the city that are in dilapidated state from the exterior.”

A new ordinance, should it be brought forward and approved, would be designed to ensure that minimum health and safety standards are met and enforced in rental housing.

As things stand today, a tenant’s remedy for substandard living conditions in a rental home or apartment is first to work with landlords. If they aren’t satisfied with the outcome of that process, their only recourse is to hire an attorney and take the landlord to court.

The council memorandum states that today the city “has no enforcement mechanisms to inspect to ensure compliance with International Residential Code for interior condition of the property.”

Bertran suggested several steps that could be taken to better understand the issue before a change to the City Code is undertaken. These might include meeting with landlords to gather their opinions on such an ordinance and how it might be enforced, establishing a list of residential rental units presently available in Webster City, and looking at ways inspections of rental units would be done.

The work, she stressed, “will take time to roll out, perhaps a year, or even longer.”