Springfield’s Vacant Property Registry ‘slow to roll out’

SPRINGFIELD — The City of Springfield’s new vacant property registry went into effect at the beginning of the year, and for many vacant property owners – the deadline to register their properties was last month.

City of Springfield Planning, Zoning and Code Enforcement Administrator Stephen Thompson told News Center 7′s Jenna Lawson that the third-party company that the city has hired to run the registry found 1697 vacant properties within the city.

Of that number, 733 properties had identifiable owners who could be contacted and had an address where notices were sent.

Thompson said approximately 45 of the 733 had registrations on file with the City as of Wednesday morning.

He said the roll out has not been as quick as the City would have liked.

“A number of factors contributing to that right now -- the COVID pandemic is at the top of that list,” Thompson said.

The property registration process is completely online right now, which may be a hurdle for some owners to complete.

The City wants to have an in-person terminal for people to register or ask questions on the second floor of City Hall when the building reopens to the public.

Thompson said the City is practicing leniency for the time being, as property owners and city employees deal with the effects of the pandemic – but eventually if property registrations are not received, civil fines will be issued.

“Without our registry, we can’t tell for sure if there is someone in there or not. So a lot of times those first responders may be endangering their lives unnecessarily,” Thompson said.

The vacant property registry was enacted to ensure safety of first responders by providing a 24/7 contact person for the property in case of an emergency, like a fire.

In addition to reliable contact information, the registration also discloses hidden dangers that could be inside the home – like holes in the floor – that first responders or other City entities would need to be aware of.

Property owners would need to register their property if it has been occupant-less for 90 consecutive days. After the 90 days, the owner has 30 days to register it with the City of Springfield.

There is an annual registration fee of $100 per property.

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