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With strong support from Business, Housing and Zoning Committee members, an amendment to the vacant building registration ordinance that would limit the time a property can spend on the registry to two years, has been advanced to the Minneapolis City Council.

After two years on the program, property owners would see the building removed from the registry and would start to have violations enforced.

Monthly inspections of the property would take place and a citation would start at $250 and continue to double in value each month after that, capping at $2,000. The end result: A vacant building owner could be charged up to $24,000 a year if no work is done on a vacant property.

If a building is going to be kicked off the registry, owners can apply for a one-year extension, though the director of regulatory services has to determine that the owner has made progress to rehabbing the property.

Brian Starry, Minneapolis’s field operations manager for Regulatory Services, said the ordinance is “much more punitive” to owners who hold onto vacant buildings.

The City Council will take up a final vote on the amendment at its July 18 meeting.