Arlington, MA, commercial vacant property registration deadline ends Nov. 15

Arlington, MA: The amendment requiring commercial vacant property registration and maintenance is in its final days of the inaugural annual registration deadline of Nov. 15.
 

The amendment states, “On or before November 15 of each calendar year, the owner of any vacant property shall pay to the Town an annual registration fee to cover the administrative cost of monitoring and ensuring the security and proper maintenance of such building, as identified in said billing statement. Failure to pay the annual registration fee shall be a violation of this bylaw, and the full fee shall be deemed an assessment resulting from a violation of this bylaw. Such fee, and any fines issued for violations of this bylaw, shall constitute a ‘municipal charges lien’ on the property.”
 

The “billing statements” were all sent out by the City on or before Oct. 15, explaining the required maintenance items to be applied for the duration of the vacancy, as well as laying out the option for the $400.00 registration fee or waiving of part of the fee for purposes of demonstrable hardship or agreement with the city to display public art (as defined by the City) during the vacancy; submissions for any waiving of fees for any reason are required to be submitted by Oct. 1 of each year.
 

Building inspectors will determine if lack of maintenance for any parts of the code has occurred for a property, and can result in fines of $100.00 per day, though any portion of the accumulation of fines may be waived based on the timely abatement of the issues.

 

 

 

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