Cape council calls for boarding up dangerous buildings

Cape Girardeau City Council members instructed the city staff Monday to move ahead with plans that would allow the city to board up dangerous buildings if property owners fail to do so.

Ward 1 Councilman Joe Uzoaru said in October he wanted the city to board up vacant structures upfront even as it pursues condemnation of such rundown properties.

But city attorney Eric Cunningham previously said the city must rely on the condemnation process outlined in state law.

At the urging of Uzoaru, Ward 4 Councilman Robbie Guard and Ward 6 Councilman Danny Essner, Cunningham drew up a measure to amend the city code.

It would allow the city to contract for services to board up “dangerously open to the public” buildings after property owners refuse to comply with an order to secure the structures, according to a memorandum from city staff.

City manager Scott Meyer said the proposed measure would allow the city to proceed with securing such structures only after a hearing before the city’s building supervisor.

Meyer said, “They have to have due process.”

Cunningham told the council the cost incurred by the city in boarding up properties would be charged to the property owners.

The city attorney said the building supervisor, who acts like a judge, would first have to declare a building as “dangerous” before the city could take steps to secure the property.

Uzoaru said his goal is to prevent buildings from becoming so rundown, they have to be condemned and demolished.

Homeless people illegally have taken residence in some vacant buildings on Sprigg Street and people are using them “as toilets,” he said during Monday’s study session.

“This has been a concern of mine for two or three years,” he added.

Uzoaru said during a recent volunteer cleanup effort in the city’s south-side neighborhood, he saw buildings that could be made livable with minor repairs.

But open doors and broken windows only make the situation worse, he said.

Securing those buildings is the first step in keeping them from becoming further rundown, he said.

“Some buildings don’t need to be condemned,” Uzoaru said.

Guard said it is about “safety for kids” and preventing drug dealers and the criminals from operating out of such structures.

Cunningham, the city attorney, said a building cannot be defined as dangerous simply because it is vacant. But a structure with an open door and broken windows likely would be found by the building supervisor to be a dangerous building, he told the council.

Essner said amending the city code would be “a step in the right direction.”

The council advised city staff to bring a proposed ordinance to the council at a future meeting.

At its regular meeting, the council voted to call an April election on a proposed extension of the three-eighths-cent parks and stormwater sales tax.

Ward 5 Councilman Bob Fox said the tax would fund projects in every ward.

The council also accepted a special warranty deed from States Resources Corp. in conjunction with the city’s purchase of 5.3 acres along South Minnesota Avenue, just south of Jefferson Elementary School.

Deputy city manager Molly Hood said before the meeting the undeveloped land borders another small tract of land the city owns along Shawnee Parkway. Hood said the city has no immediate plans for the wooded site, but felt the price made it right to buy the land now.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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