North Egypt News

Bring life to empty downtown buildings

Many rural Illinois communities have a vacant or derelict building in the heart of their downtown or on main street. While the missed opportunities of a property sitting vacant seem basic, the concept is complicated.

Intent, code, statute, and insurance classification may be used to determine if a property is classified as vacant, unoccupied, abandoned, or derelict. This category of properties can overshadow neighborhoods, business districts, and communities large and small. 

In an August 2005 report, Vacant Properties: The True Cost to Communities, the National Vacant Properties Campaign (NVPC) defined vacant properties as residential, commercial, industrial, and vacant lots with one or both of the following:

• The site poses a threat to public safety (e.g., a public nuisance as the property owner abandons routine property maintenance)
• The property owner neglects the fundamental financial duties of property ownership (e.g., they fail to pay taxes or default on mortgages)

Vacant properties rarely incite a sense of urgency, other than with neighboring property owners. However, evidence shows that vacant properties are an expense that local governments cannot afford to ignore, as the expense grows with every year a property remains vacant or abandoned.

Original source can be found here