Vacant Building Registration

 

Vacant Building

We encourage property owners, management companies and lenders to be proactive in reporting vacant /boarded buildings in order to avoid further enforcement penalties. Please click the link to download a copy of the Vacant Building Registration form. The form should be completed and returned with the current applicable fees to the City of Alameda Code Compliance department.

Vacant Building Registration Form(PDF, 563KB) 

13-15.1 - Declaration of Purpose. Boarded buildings and vacant parcels are a major cause and source of blight in residential and nonresidential neighborhoods, especially when the owner of the building or parcel fails to maintain and manage the building or parcel to ensure that it does not become a liability to the neighborhood. Boarded buildings and vacant parcels often attract transients and criminals, including drug users, and accumulate debris and refuse, all of which impair the quality of life and reduce property values. Use of boarded buildings and vacant parcels by transients and criminals, who may employ primitive cooking or heating methods, creates a risk of fire for the boarded building, vacant parcel and adjacent properties. Boarded buildings and vacant parcels are often used as dumping grounds for debris, are often overgrown with weeds and grasses, and may include, among other things, hazardous or toxic substances and used drug needles. Buildings and vacant parcels which are boarded up to prevent entry by transients and other long-term vacancies discourage economic development and retard appreciation of property values. Because of the potential economic and public health, welfare and safety problems caused by boarded buildings and vacant parcels, the City needs to monitor boarded buildings and vacant parcels, so that they do not become attractive nuisances, are not used by trespassers, are properly maintained both inside and out, and do not become a blighting influence in the neighborhood. City departments involved in such monitoring include the Police Department, the Fire Department, Planning Department and Public Works Department. There is a substantial cost to the City for monitoring boarded buildings and vacant parcels, which should be borne by the owners of the boarded buildings and vacant parcels. (Ord. No. 2706 N.S. § 1)

 *Annual Vacant/Building/Parcel Monitoring fee submitted through June 2019 is $714 per calendar year. City of Alameda fiscal year(July 1st) is when the fees are adopted by Council and adjusted.