Huntington extends timeframe for vacant residential property registration to 210 days

Huntington, WV: Following some negative community response to the vacant property registration ordinance, City Council has extended the registration timeframe for residential properties.
 

The original language for the ordinance set the time at 30 days from vacancy to register a property, and if not registered, fines could be levied beginning at $100.

Eight months into the program, and the time a residential property must sit 100 percent vacant has been revised to 210 days before registration. From there, an inspection will occur by a city inspector, wherein the property owner must bring the property up to code for any maintenance and safety issues discovered.

The requirement for a property to be occupied for 11 straight months in order to have it removed from the registry remains in effect, and the registration timeframe for commercial properties remains at only 30 days.

Any property on the registration list for more than one year will pay annual additional fees of 40 cents per square foot for properties in the city’s business district, and 20 cents per square foot in all other areas; with incremental increases to those costs for each consecutive year of vacancy.

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