UPDATE: Registration of Vacant/Abandoned Buildings

Your BOMA Advocacy Team attended the special meeting of the Building Inspection Commission (BIC) and the Department of Building Inspection (DBI) recently where the Registration of Vacant/Abandoned Buildings Ordinance was discussed (you can view a copy of the Ordinance, here). The discussion surrounding the measure was an interesting one; here are the highlights:

What's the origin/intent of the Ordinance?

• The measure was introduced on May 5, 2009 by Board of Supervisors President David Chiu and Supervisor Bevan Dufty.
  
• Many cities have this type of ordinance (under the 'public nuisance' ordinance of the code).
• At its core, the measure attempts to mitigate the deterioration of a building.

What's the status of the Ordinance?

• On June 3, 2009, the San Francisco Planning Department: Historic Preservation Commission conducted a public hearing to consider the measure. The Commission approved the Ordinance, with modifications. You can view the Commission's recommendation and documents related to their action, here.
  
• On June 10, 2009, the measure was heard before the Code Advisory Committee (CAC) where they recommended "non-support of [the] ordinance as written, and in lieu recommen[ed] that the Department of Building Inspection develop administrative procedures to enforce existing requirements." You can read the CAC's letter to the BIC, here.
  
• On June 12, 2009, DBI Director Vivian Day responded to the Planning Department's recommendation of the Ordinance that can be viewed here. In short, the measure is not enforceable by DBI.
• On June 12, 2009, the BIC approved a motion to notify the Board of Supervisors that it does not support the Ordinance.
  

The need for the Ordinance warrants further discussion:

• Do we need another ordinance? There are already City ordinances that cover blight.
• What about buildings slated for demolition, or those waiting for rehabilitation? There needs to be a consensus review of this issue.
• Finding insurance on a vacant building can be difficult. How can this be addressed?
  
• What is the definition of a blighted building?
• The City doesn't know how many blighted buildings it has.
  
• This is a big brother issue: The City should help building owners improve their buildings, NOT impose another City mandate.

A full transcript/video of the meeting can be found here.

Your BOMA Advocacy Team will continue to monitor the Registration of Vacant/Abandoned Buildings Ordinance and report any new developments on this blog.