County Approves Ordinance Addressing Dangerous Buildings
Posted By J.T. on November 5, 2009
Harrisonville, Missouri – The Cass County Commission has been trying to find a way to cope with buildings and structures throughout the county that have been damaged by fire, wind, or have become so dilapidated, decayed, unsafe, or unsanitary that they are unfit for human habitation.
Over the last year, abandoned homes or old homes that have been unoccupied for years have created possible health hazards. Other homes have caught fire and are left in disrepair. In some cases these homes become breeding grounds for disease, rodents, or other hazards.
While researching how to address the safety and health concerns of these buildings, Commissioners were very concerned that they not usurp or negatively impact the property rights of individuals. “We are not interested in going into homes and inspecting interior structures or trying to determine roof damage,” commented Presiding Commissioner Gary Mallory. “We are simply talking about buildings that are clearly uninhabitable and dangerous…with exposed electrical wires…massive holes in the sides of structures…and clearly abandoned and not usable…those present a real hazard.”
The Commission reviewed an old ordinance from 2002 that had been replaced by the International Building Codes adopted by previous Commissioners. Commissioners felt that the definition of a dangerous building in the old ordinance went too far in trying to address buckling of walls, percentage of damage, or other things that may or may be debatable and create a bureaucratic-enforcement issue.
The county reviewed possible definitions and agreed on the following definition of “dangerous buildings”:
Those that have been damaged by fire or wind so as to become dangerous to life, safety, or the general health and welfare of the occupants or the people of the County.
Those that are so dilapidated, decayed, unsafe, unsanitary or that utterly fail to provide the amenities essential to decent living that they are unfit for human habitation, or are likely to cause sickness or disease, so as to work injury to the health, safety, or welfare of those occupying such building.
Structures deemed dangerous will need to be repaired or constructed to eliminate the hazard that exists or they will need to be removed entirely. “We are not looking to start tearing down buildings…but simply reduce any hazard that exists,” stated Associate Commissioner Baker. “We are simply looking to fix these dangerous structures so they are not a safety or health hazard.”
The Commission made it clear in the new ordinance that if a property is deemed dangerous, the property owner or affected parties will be given an adequate hearing on the property. Further, an owner, occupant, mortgagee, agent, or other persons having an interest in a dangerous building may, within 30 days from the receipt of the order of action, appeal the decision to the circuit court of the county per state statute.
The Commission voted unanimously to adopt the new ordinance. The Commission will be holding three public hearings for building-codes related to the ordinance. However, the Commission made it very clear they are only looking to address those severe cases where severe damage exists.
“We are sincerely only trying to address those severe cases where safety is a concern,” stated Associate Commissioner Brian Baker. “We have homes that could face collapse and if a child got into an abandoned structure…and it had a wall or floor collapse…that would be a real travesty. We are simply looking for a reasonable way to address abandoned structures that have become severely dilapidated or severely damaged structures.”
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