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Vacant property management

Vacant structures can harm the quality of life in the surrounding neighborhood.  Blighted vacant structures and those which are unsecured and have poorly maintained yards can have a compounding effect on our resident's ability to sustain or enhance their neighborhood.  As such, the City of Rochester has an aggressive policy of monitoring vacant structures as per §90-17 of the City Code.

City-owned vacant structures

City-owned vacant structures are separated into two categories, those to be demolished and those to be sold.  Once the city takes possession of a structure, it is placed on a list with the Department of Environmental Services to have the grass cut regularly and any trash and debris is scheduled for removal.  

Those structures destined for demolition have the water, gas and electric meters removed, if necessary, and an enhanced board-up is performed to prevent any break-ins.  These structures are then monitored by the demolition unit until such time as they are taken down.

Privately owned vacant structures

The Bureau of Inspection and Compliance Services monitors all privately owned vacant structures, visiting the locations regularly but in no case less than every three weeks.  During the course of conducting these inspections, city inspection staff ensure that the structure is secure and the grounds are properly maintained and, when necessary, the following courses of action are taken:

  • When the grass is more than 10 inches, the violation is cited in a Notice and Order.  If it is not corrected within ten days, it is ticketed and sent to contract to be cut.**
  • When there is uncontained trash and debris, the violation is cited in a Notice and Order.  If it is not corrected within ten days, it is ticketed and sent to contract to have the debris removed.
  • When the structure is found unsecured, the inspector immediately submits a work order to have it secured.

**In the situations above regarding violations of high grass and/or trash and debris, once a vacant structure has received a ticket for these violations, any subsequent issues of the same violation are immediately sent to contract to be corrected.  Any time a work order is executed, the cost of correcting the violation is billed to the property owner.  If the bill isn't paid, the charge is placed on next year's property tax bill under §6-94 of the City Charter.

In addition to the enforcement efforts mentioned above, housing code tickets are issued to privately owned vacant structures that have exterior blight and those that have been identified as potential demolition candidates.  Demolition candidates are then brought through the demolition hearing process or are acquired through tax foreclosure and scheduled for demolition.

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