Owners of vacant properties in Downtown Albuquerque will not see increased registration fees and sleeping on sidewalks in the area is still allowed — for now.
After dozens spoke Monday night against an ordinance that aims to tackle an increased number of vacant buildings and create new rules for sidewalks in Downtown, the City Council voted 8-1 to defer the bill until the next meeting.
YES: Brook Bassan, Dan Champine, Dan Lewis, Renée Grout, Louie Sanchez, Joaquín Baca, Nichole Rogers, Tammy Fiebelkorn
NO: Klarissa Peña
The Downtown Vacant Buildings and Properties Ordinance — sponsored by Councilor Joaquín Baca — proposes putting more pressure on owners of vacant properties by requiring annual maintenance licenses, property inspections and vacancy registration fees.
The ordinance also includes “no obstruction zones” to prevent people from blocking sidewalks in the “Downtown Center.” The zones would prohibit “wrongful use of sidewalks,” which includes “sleeping, sitting, kneeling, crouching or lying down” and carrying banners or signs on sidewalks.
Albuquerque resident Diane McCash told councilors the ordinance reminds her of an “upscale club with a dress code meant to exclude those of us unable or unwilling to meet their standards.”
“What about my right to peacefully protest?” McCash said. “This ordinance has the potential to price people out of these rights, this free expression, but my free expression, my free speech, pales in comparison to our unhoused community members’ right to existence.”
However, some people spoke in favor of the ordinance.
Lisa Curtis, an Albuquerque lawyer, told councilors she bought the State Theater Building in a dilapidated state and argued the proposal would actually help those who are unhoused.
“The vacancy provision is right, the fine provision is right, the obstruction section is right,” Curtis said. “I was a special prosecutor for homeless women that were raped Downtown. We’re not doing enough to take care of them, leaving them here is not helpful. “
After City Councilor Nichole Rogers proposed to amend the ordinance by removing the “wrongful use of sidewalks,” councilors realized there were multiple amendments that proposed something similar.
Councilors decided not to vote on the ordinance until their Oct. 7 meeting — that way there can be a summary of the amendments to avoid confusion and redundancy.
The ordinance states that vacant buildings and properties are a health and safety concern, a “public nuisance” and a “private nuisance” to neighboring properties that may lose retail and property value because of the unmaintained vacant properties.
The proposed fees would be based on the square footage of the property and how many years the property has been vacant. Owners of vacant properties would be required to pay whatever their square footage base cost is multiplied by how many years their property has been vacant.
The money collected will be used for “funding enforcement activities” such as property inspections, according to the ordinance.
(Source: City of Albuquerque)
Read more about vacant buildings Downtown here.
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