Dangerous Building Ordinance
A building is considered “dangerous” by the City of Saginaw if:
- The building is vacant and open to entry (includes broken windows & open doors).
- The building has been vacant for 180 consecutive days or longer and is not registered for lease, rent, or sale by a Michigan State licensed real estate broker.
- The building has any defects that inhibit the structure from its intended use. All such defects are described in Section 151.111 of the Saginaw Code of Ordinances.
To remedy these effects, the owner or his agent must comply with the following conditions:
- Make any necessary repairs to the building or structure that inhibit said structure from its intended use including pulling the proper permits for the work performed. After repairs have been made, required inspections have been completed, and the building or structure has been brought up to Code, the owner or his agent must do one of the following:
- Occupy or cause the building or structure to be occupied.
- Notify the Police Department that the structure will not be occupied for 180 consecutive days while maintaining the exterior of the building or structure and the adjoining grounds in accordance with the Code of Ordinances of the City of Saginaw. This notice shall be given to the Police Department no more than 30 days after the structure has been brought to Code or becomes unoccupied, if no repairs were needed.
- Register the building or structure for lease, rent, or sale through a Michigan State licensed real estate broker while maintaining the exterior of the building or structure and the adjoining grounds in accordance with the Code of Ordinances of the City of Saginaw.
Demolition Process of a Dangerous Building
First, it is important to note that the length of time to complete the demolition process of a dangerous building within the City of Saginaw can vary from one case to another. The demolition process can take as little as a day to several years to complete. The City of Saginaw appreciates your patience with regards to certain dangerous buildings or structures that have remained standing for long periods of time. In the information that follows, we wish to convey the entire demolition process in order to educate our citizens as to why this variation occurs.
Dangerous buildings are classified into three separate groups. Each group must go through different demolition processes, which will be discussed later, that take varying amounts of time to complete. These three groups include:
- Emergency Properties: This group consists of the dangerous buildings that must be demolished immediately because of some defect, such as severe fire damage or structural failure, which makes the structure a serious danger to the surrounding community. They may be publicly or privately owned. Only the City Manager, Chief Inspector, or an agent appointed by the Chief Inspector, and the Fire Marshall may approve an emergency demolition.
- County-Owned Properties: These properties have been taken over by Saginaw County through the property tax foreclosure process. The process to demolish these properties usually takes between two and four months from start to finish. Although the City of Saginaw demolishes a number of these properties each year, there are county-owned properties that do not get demolished. Instead, they are sold to the public at county auctions. The only county-owned buildings the City of Saginaw demolishes are those that fall into the classification of a “dangerous building” as listed above.
- Privately Owned Properties: This group of properties consists of any building or structure currently owned by a non-municipal entity, such as an individual or corporation, and that falls into the category of a “dangerous building.” These properties take the longest amount of time to go through the demolition process. Typically, a minimum of ten months is required to complete this process.
Since the majority of all demolitions within the City of Saginaw are completed using federal funds, there are guidelines that must be followed that inhibit the City of Saginaw from demolishing certain buildings.
When the City of Saginaw receives federal funds specifically for demolitions, federal authorities mandate that those funds can only be used in certain areas of the city. As of July 1, 2010, the City of Saginaw is only allowed to demolish residential buildings (commercial buildings are restricted) in census tracts one, four, six, seven, eight, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen with NSP2 funds. In all other areas, demolitions are delayed until other sources of funding are available.
These are the steps required to complete the demolition process for an emergency demolition:
- The City Manager, Chief Inspector, or Fire Marshall will approve the building or structure for emergency demolition.
- The building or structure is photographed for the City of Saginaw’s records and for reference after demolition.
- The building or structure and any surface concrete on its lot are measured. These measurements are used to acquire the costs associated with the demolition.
- The contractor demolishes the building or structure, plugs the sewer, and then fills the lot with topsoil and levels it smooth.
- The City of Saginaw presents the costs of demolition to the contractor using a “cost out” form. The contractor then issues an invoice to the City of Saginaw for the associated costs of demolishing the building or structure.
- When the invoice is received by the City of Saginaw, the DBO inspector does a final grade inspection to ensure the following: no debris or building materials remain on the lot, the lot is leveled properly and top soiled, and no damage was made to the City sidewalk.
- If the final grade inspection is not approved, the contractor must make any necessary repairs to the lot. If the final grade inspection is approved, either initially or after any repairs are made, the invoice is approved for payment to the contractor.
These are the steps required to complete the demolition process for a county-owned property.
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Saginaw County identifies the properties they own that are considered dangerous buildings. These property addresses are given to the City of Saginaw to start the demolition process.
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The DBO Inspector checks each individual property to assess the condition. For example, a property may be classified as: vacant, open & vacant, fire damaged, or boarded and vacant.
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For those properties that are in an area where funding is available, the address is checked to make sure it does not fall into a Historical Zone. If a property falls inside a Historical Zone, the City of Saginaw must file a petition to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) that shows cause that the building or structure is unsafe, cannot be rehabilitated, and must be demolished. This petition usually takes several weeks to create and receive a response from the SHPO.
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Of those properties that are not in a Historical Zone, waivers are made that give the City of Saginaw permission by the owner, in this case Saginaw County, to proceed with the demolition process.
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When these waivers are signed and returned to the City of Saginaw, the building or structure is photographed, inside and out, for the City of Saginaw’s records and for reference after demolition.
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The building or structure and any surface concrete on its lot are measured. These measurements are used to acquire the costs associated with the demolition.
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After the costs are acquired, the building or structure is surveyed for asbestos and a GIS report is requested for the property. Depending on the number of properties that are given to the asbestos surveyor, this may take up to several weeks to complete.
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Once the asbestos survey has been completed, the DBO Inspector adds the costs for asbestos removal, if any, to the costs of demolition. These costs are put together in a “cost out” that will be given to the contractor.
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The DBO file for the property, now fully assembled, is published in order for the funds to be released by federal authorities. Publishing usually takes a minimum of 30 days to complete.
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After the property is published, it is released to the contractor for demolition. However, the contractor must file a “Notification of Intent to Rehabilitate/Demolish” with the State of Michigan. The contractor must wait ten days after filing this notice before they can demolish the building or structure.
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The contractor demolishes the building or structure and takes out any surface concrete on the lot, plugs the sewer, and then fills the lot with topsoil and levels it smooth.
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The contractor then issues an invoice to the City of Saginaw for the associated costs of demolishing the building or structure.
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When the invoice is received by the City of Saginaw, the DBO inspector does a final grade inspection to ensure the following: no debris or building materials remain on the lot, the lot is leveled properly and top soiled, and no damage was made to the City sidewalk.
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If the final grade inspection is not approved, the contractor must make any necessary repairs to the lot. If the final grade inspection is approved, either initially or after any repairs are made, the invoice is approved for payment to the contractor.
These are the steps required to complete the demolition process for a privately owned property.
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A complaint is received through the City Clerks Office that a certain property contains a dangerous building. The DBO Inspector receives the complaint and checks the property to assess the condition of the building or structure. A property may be classified as: vacant, open & vacant, fire damaged, boarded and vacant, occupied, or a work-in-progress. If the building or structure is classified as any of the above other than “occupied” or a “work-in-progress,” the DBO Inspector adds it to the dangerous buildings list.
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For those properties that are in an area where funding is available, the address is checked to make sure it does not fall into a Historical Zone. If a property falls inside a Historical Zone, the City of Saginaw must file a petition to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) that shows cause that the building or structure is unsafe, cannot be rehabilitated, and must be demolished. This petition usually takes several weeks to create and receive a response from the SHPO.
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Those properties that are not located in a Historical Zone, or have recently been approved by SHPO, are sent for a title search to acquire the persons who may have any interest in the property at that time. Depending on the number of title searches that are sent at one time, this process can take one to three weeks.
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The title searches are returned to the City of Saginaw when completed. Then, they are sent to the City Attorney’s Office for an initial review. The initial review lets the DBO Inspector know where to send notices. The initial review can take anywhere from a week to a month to complete depending on the information in the title searches.
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While the City Attorney completes the initial review, the building or structure is inspected for all defects.
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When the initial review has been completed and the file returned to the DBO Inspector, a Notice of Defects is sent by certified mail to any person or entity that has an interest in the property. This notice lists the defects found during the inspection, orders the owner to board up the structure with-in ten days, and further orders the owner to either pull the necessary permits and make repairs or pull the necessary permit and demolish the structure. As well, this notice schedules a hearing in which the owner must be present. The hearing must be scheduled no less than 60 days from the date the Notice of Defects is sent to the owner(s).
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A copy of the Notice of Defects is posted on the front of the building or structure and is published in a local newspaper, the Saginaw Press, for three consecutive weeks.
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After the 60-day waiting period is over, the hearing is held. This hearing offers the owner(s) a chance to prove that the repairs have been made or permits have been pulled to do the work. In many cases, the owner(s) do not attend the hearing.
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Once the hearing is complete, the DBO Inspector notifies the owner(s) of the Hearings Officer’s decision in a Notice of Findings. The Notice of Findings is sent by certified mail to each owner whether they attended the hearing or not. If the owner(s) do not attend, they are given 15 days to pull permits and either complete the repairs or to demolish the structure. If the owner(s) do attend the hearing, they are given 30 days to pull permits and complete the repairs or to demolish the structure, if not already started.
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A copy of the Notice of Findings is posted on the front of the building or structure and is also published in the Saginaw Press for one week.
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At the end of time period given, the property is inspected to see if any repairs have been made and permits have been pulled. If repairs have been made and permits have been pulled, then the DBO Inspector has legal justification to give the owner(s) an extension to complete all of the work and get the building up to code. If no repairs have been made, the DBO Inspector proceeds with the demolition process.
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If the inspection shows no repairs have been made, the file is sent to the City Attorney’s office for final review. The City Attorney goes through the file to make sure the DBO Inspector followed all of the guidelines in the Saginaw Code of Ordinances, Section 151.111. This process can take from a week to a month to complete.
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If the file is approved for demolition, the building or structure and all of the surface-concrete on the lot are measured. These measurements are used to get the costs of demolition.
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Once the costs have been calculated, the DBO Inspector requests a GIS report and an asbestos survey of the building.
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Once the asbestos survey has been completed, the DBO Inspector adds the costs for asbestos removal, if any, to the costs of demolition. These costs are put together in a “cost out.”
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The DBO file for the property, now fully assembled, is published in order for the funds to be released by federal authorities. Publishing usually takes a minimum of 30 days to complete.
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After the property is published, it is released to the contractor for demolition. However, the contractor must file a “Notification of Intent to Rehabilitate/Demolish” with the State of Michigan. The contractor must wait ten days after filing this notice before they can demolish the building or structure.
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The contractor demolishes the building or structure, plugs the sewer, and then fills the lot with topsoil and levels it smooth.
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The contractor then issues an invoice to the City of Saginaw for the associated costs of demolishing the building or structure.
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When the invoice is received by the City of Saginaw, the DBO inspector does a final grade inspection to ensure the following: no debris or building materials remain on the lot, the lot is leveled properly and top soiled, and no damage was made to the City sidewalk.
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If the final grade inspection is not approved, the contractor must make any necessary repairs to the lot. If the final grade inspection is approved, either initially or after any repairs are made, the invoice is approved for payment to the contractor.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is a dangerous building in my neighborhood, what can I do about it?
If there is a dangerous building in your neighborhood, the best action that you can take is to file a complaint with the City Clerks Office. This complaint goes directly to the Dangerous Buildings Inspector and will be checked for accuracy shortly thereafter.
I have put in several complaints with the City Clerks Office, why is the dangerous building in my neighborhood still standing?
There may be several reasons the dangerous building remains standing. The most common include: not having funds to tear down houses in that area of the city, the house may be located in a Historical District within the city, or there may not have been enough funding to tear down the house. The best thing for you to do is contact the City Inspections Department at 759-1421 to get further information.
How can I find out if the dangerous building in my neighborhood is going through the DBO process?
You may contact the City of Saginaw Inspections Department at 759-1421 to talk to the Dangerous Building Inspector. This person can tell you the status of the house in question and answer any of your other concerns with the dangerous building. Note: please do not call the Inspections Department to complain about the dangerous building, your complaints should go to the City Clerks Office.
How many dangerous buildings are in the City of Saginaw?
The exact number of dangerous buildings within the City of Saginaw is uncertain because there are several houses that will become dangerous buildings each month. However, the estimated number is currently over 1,000 dangerous buildings (October 2010).
How many dangerous buildings does the City of Saginaw demolish each year?
The number of dangerous buildings the City of Saginaw demolishes within any given year depends on the amount of funding available. However, during 2009 and 2010, the City of Saginaw has demolished over 400 and 500 buildings, respectively.
I am the owner of a vacant home in the City of Saginaw, what can I do to prevent my property from becoming a dangerous building?
There are several actions you can take to prevent your house from becoming a dangerous building. The first step would be to notify the Police Department and the City of Saginaw Inspections Department that your house is vacant. If you know the house will be vacant for a long period of time, the house should be boarded or protected from possible intruders. One of the best things you can do is keep your property clean and maintained; this means keeping your lawn short and free of trash or debris. You may also want to advise your neighbors or a trusted person to keep an eye on the house during its vacancy. As well, it would be beneficial to keep an exterior light on during the night.