Council approves vacant structure ordinance

During its June 19 meeting, Waxahachie City Council unanimously approved a vacant structure regulations ordinance, pertaining to vacant buildings within the city’s downtown historic district overlay.

The ordinance requires property owners of vacant buildings to register with the city and to create a detailed plan and timeline “for repair, rehabilitation and maintenance of the structure,” according to the city staff report. It also allows the city to conduct annual inspections on the vacant properties to ensure they are meeting the city’s building, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and energy codes.

“The spirit of this ordinance is to work with property owners … and to help them get the building … modified in some way so that it’s not just standing there vacant,” John Hamilton, board member of Waxahachie Partnership Inc., said.

WPI spent the last couple years developing the ordinance as one of its community transformation strategies, with the goal of being to identify vacant buildings and encourage building owners to take advantage of the new downtown building rehabilitation incentive program, according to the city staff report.

“This ordinance proposal is the result of a number of years of planning and thought,” Hamilton said. “When we moved here in 2000, there were a lot of vacant buildings downtown, and it was really pretty shabby. The city government and the merchants have worked their way up, so that it’s a pretty neat place now. But we still have a few plywood windows, and we have buildings that are not occupied.”

Hamilton said the ordinance will also make the buildings safer.

“Part of the significance of an unoccupied building is that it’s a fire hazard because if something starts there, it will be a while before anybody knows it,” he said. “At this time, a vacant building is not required to have any kind of fire alarms or other extinguishing equipment.”

Property owners are required to follow a standard of care that includes protective treatment against weather, rodents and decay, securing the property against trespassers, replacing all broken windows and doors, and more.

Council member Patrick Souter first served as a representative from Historic Waxahachie Inc. for WPI then later as the council liaison.

“It’s developed, not only to try to save buildings, to make places safer, so we don’t have a fire that knocks out significant portion of downtown, but it actually has spurred the incentives … for the downtown grant program,” Souter said. “It’s not to try to punish people. It’s to try to give them resources and then spur them on to make Waxahachie what we all want it to be – not only a place that’s the idea of the Gingerbread City, but also to make it safer. It’s been my honor to work on this.”

The city council and TIRZ board recently approved a new reimbursement grant program for building owners within the Oldham Avenue Historic District and Downtown District. The downtown building improvement program is a 50/50 match reimbursement grant up to $50,000 per applicant. Eligible projects include structural repairs, repairs required to meet current code, including life safety code and ADA standards, historical reconstruction of the façade, repairs to doors and windows, and more.

Originally published June 28, 2023 - https://www.waxahachiesun.com/business/council-approves-vacant-structure-ordinance/article_d54fe4c2-15ec-11ee-918b-d31736e8b787.html