Batavia making plans to enforce upkeep of historic buildings
A Batavia panel Tuesday informally agreed with a plan to encourage owners of historic buildings to keep them up, rather than neglecting them to death.
That encouragement could start off "soft and gentle," in the words of Jerry Swanson, community development director. But it could ultimately end up being a big stick.
The community development committee had asked staff to research options last month, in the wake of the proposed demolition of the Batavia Bowl building on First Street. In that case, a prospective owner persuaded city officials that 20 or more years of neglect, inside and out, ruined the building beyond reasonable cost to repair.
Swanson is proposing that the city send a letter to the owners of at least 68 properties in the town's only historic district, notifying the property owners that the city is beginning an enhanced code compliance program, and that they would like their cooperation in not letting the buildings fall in to disrepair.
City inspectors would evaluate the exterior of the buildings. Mainly, they would be concerned about roofs, fascia, masonry and windows - all places where water can enter.
"Water is the number one cause of structural and other deterioration, ultimately leading to the kinds of conditions we saw with the Batavia Bowl," Swanson said.
Property owners would receive the evaluations. Owners of "significant" buildings (a legal definition of a building's historical status) that are in poor condition would get an offer from the city to retain an architect to come up with a strategy for stabilizing and upgrading the building. The architect would be paid by the city out of money raised in the existing tax-increment financing district for downtown improvements.
Property owners would be told of the violations, and offered materials on city grants or perhaps loans that could be used to pay for repairs.
Progressive discipline would happen for those who do nothing, starting with a formal citation. If fixes aren't done, citations and fines would build up, and the city could seek a court judgment. A court judgment could be converted to a lien against the property. Or the court could order repairs.
"That's the only real legal recourse the city has as a non-home-rule jurisdiction," Swanson said, noting it would be "much more serious actions than the city has ever taken."
If at least six months went by without repair, the city could foreclose on the property.
Alderman Michael O'Brien stressed the city should ask nicely first, given people have rights as owners of private property. "I think we should tread lightly."
The whole proposal is available on the city Web site on the committee's agenda, at cityofbatavia.net/content/articlefiles/5462-Historic%20Building%20Deterioration%207-6-09.pdf.
Swanson will now work on crafting an official policy and ordinances to present to the city council.