BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown unveiled a new way to fight commercial building owners with properties in disrepair, and it includes hefty fines.
Last year the roof collapsed on a downtown Buffalo building on Ellicott Street, and the building had to be demolished.
With that in mind, Mayor Brown on Saturday announced a robust code enforcement plan to combat neglected commercial properties in Buffalo.
One includes new legislation to add a fine of $500 a day for owners of vacant buildings who haven't filed required statements of how they plan to use a building.
"We now have a listing of buildings that we have put together that we identify as being distressed, that we identify as being problem properties," Mayor Brown said. "The owners of those buildings will be notified of that condition."
The mayor is also calling for increased fines that housing court can levy on owners who fail to maintain their properties.
City officials say the new enforcement will help inspectors identify unstable structures and put more pressure on property owners to maintain their buildings. It will also create a new hearing process, designed to work with owners to help reduce housing court cases.
"It is absolutely unacceptable that some commercial property owners are keeping their structures in substandard conditions," the mayor said.
