By Sam Wildow
TROY — The Troy City Council’s Community and Economic Development Committee met on Monday evening to provide recommendations on proposed vacant property registration programs, as well as on proposed moratoriums on parking lots and demolitions. The proposed vacant property registration program for commercial properties was later sent back to staff for further research, while the committee recommended moving forward with the proposed moratoriums on parking lots and demolitions. The moratoriums will be sent to the council for approval.
The committee consists of at-large council member Lynne B. Snee, who is the chair of the committee; at-large council member William G. Rozell; and fifth ward council member William C. Twiss. Bill Lutz, president of the Troy City Council, submitted a vacant property registration program in regard to commercial properties to the committee for consideration.
In a memo from Director of Public Service and Safety Patrick Titterington, city staff recommended the council not adopt the draft vacant property ordinance for commercial and industrial buildings as submitted for discussion by Lutz. According to the memo, the city’s recommendation “is due to concerns related to the legality, administration, appropriateness, and enforcement provisions.” Instead, city staff recommended the committee to direct staff “to prepare a work program to address a rental property registration program that targets residential, commercial, and industrial property types in Troy.”
Lutz, in addressing the committee on Monday evening, said the issues surrounding the IOOF building, located at 112-118 W. Main Street, prompted him to see if there was anything they could do to prevent a situation like this happening in the future. He said it was not his intention for residential properties to be included in this proposed vacant property registration program. Lutz said his proposed vacant commercial property ordinance was “meant simply as a starting point for discussion to prevent abandonment of commercial properties.”
Titterington said, in terms of the city’s property maintenance workload, residential properties “overwhelmingly” take up the city’s time, particularly rental properties. He said the city has low vacancy when it comes to commercial properties.
Snee questioned whether it was necessary to have a vacant property registration program for either commercial or residential properties. She later said the proposed program seemed “far too intrusive for property owners.”
The committee decided to send the proposed vacant property registration program back to city staff for further research. This followed Titterington’s suggestion that city staff could provide further analysis on census data and best practices in the state on all types of uses. Titterington said city staff could come back to the committee by early next year on this topic.
The committee then recommended moving forward on proposed moratoriums on parking lots and demolitions, which had been requested previously by council members Jeffrey Schilling and Todd Severt. City staff recommended a 90-day moratorium on new surface parking lots. City staff identified at least five studies that have been done since 1960 to assess the adequacy of and/or document parking downtown.
City staff also recommended a 180-day moratorium on new demolition permits, although this moratorium would not be applicable to the 112-118 W. Main Street building. The committee was unanimous in recommending to move forward with those recommendations to the city council.
The Troy City Council will meet next at 7 p.m. on Nov. 15 in council chambers on the second floor of City Hall, located at 100 S. Market St.
