Vacant Building Owners Could Face Harsher Penalties

Vacant Buildings Can Be Dangerous for Fire Fighters

DULUTH, Minn.- Vacant buildings can be a safety hazard to the public, according to Duluth City officials. That’s why a resolution is headed to the Duluth City Council, proposing harsher penalties to owners of those buildings.

Vacant building registration fees are currently 500 dollars a year, but the new proposal would bump the registration fee up 500 dollars, every year the building is vacant.  Duluth Police Fire Chief Dennis Edwards says vacant buildings can be dangerous for fire fighters, in the case of a fire.

“As they get structurally deteriorated than we are, we fall under different time limits for how long the fire fighters can be inside, and how the building behaves, you know if there’s holes in the floor or the roof, that can accelerate the rate of the fire,” said Dennis Edwards, Fire Chief of the City of Duluth.

There are currently more than 170 condemned buildings in Duluth.