Lansdale Borough Council continues to debate a possible ordinance meant to address building vacancies, while local business owners are pressing for specifics and voicing concern about the proposed law. The town’s code committee has discussed a possible vacancy tax or fee meant to spur owners of vacancies to submit plans or sell, and in August voted to update the borough code to add a new “downtown core” area with new development options. In February, members of the code committee said a first draft of the code had been written and was up for further talks. The current draft would cover both residential and commercial properties, and would contain exceptions that could allow an owner to not pay the fee, including properties that are actively listed for sale; properties under active, ongoing rehabilitation or construction activities that have a current building permit; properties that have been damaged by fire; and single-family, owner-occupied residences where the owners are temporarily absent. Director of community development Jason Van Dame said, “This tool is not for your buildings that are well maintained, and taken care of. These are tools for the buildings that have an absentee landlord, someone that’s not responsive, someone not in the borough. This would be a tool for those properties we have challenges with.” For more information visit the Lansdale Borough website.
Source: The Reporter; 2/19/2025 & 3/3/2025