Current situation
Jackson said she is proposing this ordinance because of what she and her constituents see around the area, which are empty buildings often littered with crime.
“In my district, when a commercial building is vacant, it becomes a magnet for illegal dumping, graffiti, squatting, [and] drug dealing—it’s all types of crime,” she said.
In other neighborhoods, when vacant properties are fenced off, she said she has seen that these crimes and dangerous behaviors are prevented.
Christopher Shannahan, the interim deputy assistant at Houston Permitting Center’s community code enforcement team, said the ordinance would require property owners to install fences that are at least 6 feet tall within 10 days of a commercial building’s vacancy. Some exceptions include:
- If the building is undergoing an active permitting project to rehabilitate the building
- Code enforcement determined that there is work underway to improve the building
- Council or mayoral unanimous determination to make an exception
Growing challenges
Shannahan said the code enforcement team faces some challenges when it comes to this proposed ordinance. In order to deem a building as vacant, it would require the code enforcement office to visit the building and determine if the building has been vacant for seven nonconsecutive days within 30 days.
However, the office has insufficient staffing, even with the current workload, Shannahan said. The office has 82 positions in total, with 20 vacancies. The team that identifies dangerous buildings—buildings that violate city ordinances and code—needs 10 more staff members for just the current workload.
Other challenges the team could face, Shannahan said, include:
- Identifying the owners: Some buildings could be owned by an LLC, and often, they are out-of-state or international owners.
- Sourcing fencing contracts: The city currently doesn’t have contractors that regularly install fences, so new contracts would be needed.
- Establishing property boundaries: Some occupied buildings are on the same property or parcel as vacant buildings.
Council member Sallie Alcorn said she recently saw these unsafe conditions at a vacant Kohl’s off Hwy. 6 after an event with council member Mary Nan Huffman.
“Many people complained about an abandoned Kohl’s right where we were meeting,” Alcorn said. “I drove back there right after the meeting to see the abandoned Kohl’s, and sure enough, everything you’re describing was everything the neighbors were complaining about. A great number of homeless people, illegal dumping, it was just gross.”
Jackson said if homeowners are responsible for keeping their yards fenced, so should business owners with their properties.
“As a business owner, they have to have the responsibility to keep their property up in neighborhoods,” Jackson said. “I don’t think it’s asking too much to put a fence up if your property is going to be vacant for two years or you’re trying to sell it. That’s your property, you should take pride in your property and want your property to be safe, just like we want our neighborhoods to be safe.”
Jackson said properties with multiple businesses would be exempt from this ordinance, and that the more standalone properties with just one business would face these requirements.
Council member Fred Flickinger said he believes putting fences around vacant properties wouldn’t deter illegal dumping and would just lead people to find other places to illegally dump.
What’s next
Proposition A committee chair, Huffman, said that because the meeting didn’t have a quorum, no action was taken on the proposal.
Community Impact reached out to Huffman and Jackson's office to clarify what's next for the proposal, but did not receive a response by press time.
