Council charges group with vacant building code update

Angling to get empty commercial properties occupied and contributing to the local economy again, Gladewater City Council members last week tasked a newly-formed committee with a code update.
This month’s action sprang from the group’s June meeting, when Mayor Brandy Flanagan took aim at absentee and apathetic building owners. After that initial discussion about updating relevant regulations, the council set out to recruit community members and city leaders for the job.
The group appointed July 18 includes developer Nishel Patel, realtor Katie Ellis, banker and Gladewater Economic Development Corporation Board President Luke Kimbrough, Gladewater Building Inspector Al Harrison, Fire Chief Mike Simmons, council member Kevin Clark and Flanagan.
Notably, Flanagan said, the committee’s meetings will be open. It may be necessary to post a public agenda should a quorum of council members choose to participate.
“If we’re going to form a committee, it’s a good practice to give a good charge to that committee,” council member Teddy Sorrells said: “This is what we want you to research and this is what we expect you to bring back to us.
“Look specifically at current ordinance regarding vacant buildings and research whether or not it’s effective and do we need to do something different that will be more effective than what we already have?”
Notably, the current vacant building ordinance is non-functioning, linked as it is to the obsolete Main Street program.
As for the rest of looming code change, “We talked last time that we wanted to make sure it did not hinder developers who would want to come in and do the right things,” Flanagan said, “but that it would deter the developers who are coming in and purchasing these buildings, leaving them vacant and refusing to talk to the city or anybody that contacts them to do something with these businesses.”
Flanagan anticipates a mid-progress update from the committee during the council’s monthly meeting in August.
“Hopefully by September we’ll have something before us to be able to vote on.”
Community member William Blackmon weighed in on the developing committee during public comments earlier in the meeting.
Rather than forcing new rules on businesses, instead of a new committee or code, “Let’s look at what we have first. Let’s start amending and enforcing what we have,” he said. “Over-regulation will deter growth. We need to start building a community, not a list of HOA rules.”
The city has the authority to create an ordinance that goes beyond what’s already been codified by the state, Harrison reminded the council.
“Quite a few cities have these ordinances. The closest I’ve found is Paris; it has one they’ve been successful with.”
Clark pointed the elected officials and their new committee members toward the University of Texas Community Development Clinic and the Texas Problem Properties Toolkit.
“That at least gives us a starting point that would aim us in the right direction, creating common sense things that are already statutorily-vetted.”
According to council member Rocky Hawkins’ research, a community builds cohesiveness and enhances public safety when it works to minimize the count of unoccupied properties.
“Code enforcement protects residents from potential hazards,” he quoted, and a well-maintained community attracts tourism, enhances its image and improves public welfare
Granted, there are monetary constraints, and it’s a challenge to determine who’s obligated to the task.
“Consistent, I was real concerned about that,” he said. ‘Communities that have not enforced their code consistently in the past fear legal repercussions from starting to enforce now,’ but “Maybe we could offer some incentives to some of the landlords and meet them halfway.”

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