An undated photo of a sign at Grants Pass City Hall.
Roman Battaglia / JPR
Grants Pass is considering new rules for how businesses maintain their properties.
The city already has codes addressing dangerous buildings and public health concerns, but city officials say it has few tools to address properties that are boarded up or poorly maintained, unless they pose an immediate safety hazard. Councilors are weighing whether new rules could improve commercial areas without placing an undue burden on property owners.
At a Monday city council meeting, City Councilor Rob Pell said this issue was brought up by a business owner who has a restaurant next to a vacant property downtown.
“For about 11 years, the building has been boarded up,” he said, with plywood covering the windows. “So the restaurant owner that’s trying to run the business next door said, ‘This is a really bad look. People don’t even want to come down this part of the street.’”
City Planning Manager Justin Gindlesperger said there is no apparent plan to redevelop the property.
“It’s been that way for quite some time,” Gindlesperger said. “[There’s] just a little bit of frustration on some lack of options and enforcement here at the city.”
Although Grants Pass has municipal code provisions for dangerous buildings or buildings that could be hazardous to public health, City Manager Aaron Cubic said they don’t currently have options to address these concerns.
“There’s codes that are out there that we could implement that you can’t have boarded up windows, or once a window’s broken, it needs to be repaired in a certain amount of time,” he said. “There are codes that we can utilize to help with the aesthetics of our community.”
Grants Pass has “somewhat of a laissez-faire code when compared to some other areas, like the city of Medford,” Cubic said.
Some cities, including Medford, Eugene and Portland, have codes that address the appearance and maintenance of properties, Gindlesperger said.
“Whereas smaller communities, like Grants Pass, we generally rely on state-level specialty codes,” he said. “We’re looking at more safety as opposed to what the property looks like.”
City councilors agreed addressing the problem is important, especially for economic development.
“It’s a reasonable expectation that business and property owners could expect that the building next to them or nearby doesn’t look like a ghetto,” Pell said.
“We have a lot of out-of-town landlords that aren’t really invested in the community, that don’t care,” Councilor Indra Nicholas said.
However, some councilors were concerned about being too heavy-handed, saying the rights of property owners are crucial.
“I don’t want to be a part of a city that creates a municipal code that is very punitive for citizens,” Councilor Victoria Marshall said.
Staff will bring back more information at a future workshop meeting so the council can discuss possible code changes, as well as regulations for vacant buildings and enforcement.
Jane Vaughan is a reporter with Jefferson Public Radio. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
