Tribune Chronicle / R. Michael Semple Jeff Crowley Sr., Niles housing and zoning code enforcement officer, stands outside a house along Mason Street in Niles that is going to be demolished. Niles City Council has passed legislation creating a vacant property registry. Owners have 90 days to register properties that become vacant or 30 days if notified by the building department.

NILES — The city now has one more tool at its disposal to tackle neighborhood blight.

City council approved an ordinance creating a vacant property building registration to help identify and register vacant residential and commercial buildings, determine responsibilities of owners and expedite the rehabilitation of such properties.

The goal is to shift the burden of blight from the city and county to the owners of the properties. Owners of vacant properties have 90 days to register properties that become vacant or 30 days if notified by the building department.

Owners must submit a vacant building plan that outlines plans for demolition, rehabilitation or security of the property if it is to remain vacant. For demolitions, the owner must place $10,000 in escrow for residential properties and $75,000 for a commercial building, which will be used to complete plans if the owner doesn’t comply with deadlines for the vacant building plan. Liens will be placed on properties in which the amounts cannot be paid in full and escrow funds will be returned if work is completed or the property is sold.

Owners also must pay annual fees of $200 for vacant residential properties and $400 for commercial properties. For every year the structures remain vacant, the fees double to a five-year maximum of $3,200 for residential properties and $6,400 for commercial properties.

Buildings damaged by fire or extreme weather conditions are exempt from registration for 90 days, those under current construction or rehabilitation are exempt until the building permit expires and those for sale with a licensed Realtor are exempt for one year from the start of the vacancy.

Law Director Terry Swauger said the registry only pertains to vacant, run-down or dilapidated properties in violation of building codes and it does not pertain to vacant properties that are maintained and up to code.

“This is one way of attacking blight,” Swauger said. “If owners are not in violation of our housing ordinance and have never been cited, it does not affect them in any way.”

Jeff Crowley, housing and zoning code enforcement officer, said there are 63 condemned homes in the city. Crowley said the vacant property registry deals more with out-of-state or bank-owned properties sitting vacant and falling into disrepair and it’s not possible to say how many such homes exist.

A housing survey conducted last year rated 7,074 homes and showed 26 vacant homes rated “A,” 109 with “C” ratings and 46 rated “F.” All these homes would fit into the new vacant property building registry, Crowley said.

“We are trying to get ahead of our housing problems as opposed to waiting and being reactive,” Crowley said.