Code enforcement trio keeps tabs on vacant buildings

It’s been two years since the City of Gladewater turned a critical eye on vacant buildings and a little more than a year-and-a-half since council members adopted new controls.
City Hall’s Code Enforcement team says the rules are working, with a few snags, and progress is being made.
No new ‘teeth’ are needed in the ordinance, Chris Miller says: “I think it’s good as it is. With adding another code enforcement officer, it’s going to allow everybody more time to focus on more parts of our jobs.”
Working under Gladewater Building official Wes Moyers, Miller and new Code Enforcement Officer Keith Bledsoe are keeping track of the properties that have been added to the vacant building registry – and those that haven’t.
“Initially, we sent out notifications for registrations last year including a copy of the code,” he told council members last week. Out of an early pool of 50 borderline buildings, “Several properties were deemed to not actually be vacant but to be warehouses for businesses. So, those were taken off the list.
“Most of the rest of them listed their properties to be for sale or lease or they began renovations on it, which are exceptions to the vacant building code.”
After culling the list, there are currently eight registered buildings on the roster.
Notably, “One was not listed for sale or lease, and we ended up taking it to court,” Miller reported. “The owner failed to appear, so we got a warrant and fines issue on that. They will continue to do so until they get registered.”
The city sent out another batch of notifications in Spring 2026, and re-registration notices have also been posted.
“We do want the ones that are doing the warehouse intakes to make sure their building are all up to code,” Mayor Brandy Flanagan-Shipp noted. “Hopefully we can keep our buildings from wearing down and looking horrible around here.”
There are good signs, Miller added.
“There have been more that have come up for sale and some of those business owners that have put a lot of money in, especially downtown, are looking to purchase those or lease them to continue growing more business.”
The city’s loathe to do hard enforcement, the mayor said, but sometimes it’s necessary.
“We are very pro-business here in Gladewater, but we want you coming in and doing business the right way here in Gladewater. We want to be good business neighbors just like we want to be good neighbors in our community.”