Albion Betterment Committee, Chamber of Commerce ask village to work on vacant buildings
ALBION – The Village Board has been asked by the Albion Betterment Committee and Orleans County Chamber of Commerce to try again at developing a local law addressing vacant buildings in the community.
The Betterment Committee and Chamber on Feb. 6 sent a letter to the Village Board.
“For several years, there have been a number of buildings within the village that are left vacant and in various stages of deterioration,” the letter states. “There are entrepreneurs who are seeking space in which to conduct their business either through purchase, or renting, and are willing to make the investment in the community. Albion’s downtown has the structure and appeal of a thriving, quaint village, but our development is stalled because storefronts sit vacant and unused instead of opening their doors to new businesses.”
The Betterment Committee and Chamber say they have a vision for a bustling downtown with “great potential for growth of the local economy through small, family-owned businesses.”
The letter was discussed briefly at Thursday’s Village Board meeting. Trustee Tim McMurray said he doesn’t disagree with the sentiment of the letter. He and Deputy Mayor Joyce Riley have been discussing the issue with the Albion code enforcement. The board is asking the Planning Board to look at local laws in other communities for vacant buildings.
McMurray cited the example of the Village of Montour Falls as one example.
Montour Falls charges $125 when buildings are vacant or abandoned and are put on the village registry. If the site stays vacant for a year, the owner is charged $500 for a residential structure for the first unit, and then $100 more for each additional unit. Commercial building owners are charged a $1,000 fee if the building is vacant a year or 15 cents per square foot, whichever is greater.
Owners of the properties also need to submit a plan to Montour Falls to rehabilitate or reoccupy the buildings, or to stabilize and maintain them. A third option would be a plan for demolition.
Albion considered a vacant building registry but it was roundly criticized during a public hearing on Aug. 11, 2021 and the initiative has been stalled. Several building owners said proposed fines in that ordinance would punish property owners who are already struggling.
The Albion proposal in 2021 would have assessed a $250 fee if a commercial site went vacant for more than 30 days, with $1,000 tacked on if the site was empty for a year, $2,000 if it went a second year, $3,000 for a third year and $4,000 for each subsequent year.
The Betterment Committee and Chamber are asking the village to take up the issue again, and come up with a proposal that is amenable to the property owners and facilitates a more vibrant downtown.
“There are many similar municipalities who have created ordinances that inspire the kind of change we would like to see, many of these are available as a matter of public record,” according to the letter from the Betterment Committee and Chamber. “We would like to see our local leaders follow their lead, and implement codes that have been proven to work.”