[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the City of College Park as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 9-2-2025 by Ord. No. 25-O-08]
A. 
The health, welfare and safety of the citizens of College Park need to be protected from the ill effects of vacant property, poor property maintenance and all the ramifications arising therefrom. Further, the value of all property within the corporate limits of the City of College Park needs to be protected from said ill effects and ramifications.
B. 
Thus, the City of College Park hereby establishes requirements for the registration of vacant properties.
The following terms, wherever used herein or referred to in this article, shall have the respective meanings assigned to them unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
CITY
The City of College Park, Maryland.
DIRECTOR
The Public Services Director of the City of College Park or such other person as the City Manager may specifically designate to act in his/her behalf.
DWELLING
Any building which is wholly or partly used or intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants, provided that temporary housing, as hereinafter defined, shall not be regarded as a "dwelling."
DWELLING UNIT
Any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling and forming a single habitable unit, with facilities which are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking and eating.
OWNER
Any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others, shall have legal or equitable title to any premises, with or without accompanying actual possession thereof, including but not limited to executor, executrix, administrator, administratrix, trustee, receiver or guardian of the estate or as a mortgagee in possession regardless of how such possession was obtained. Any person or occupant who is a lessee subletting or reassigning any part or all of any structure shall be deemed to be a co-owner with the lessor and shall have joint responsibility over the portion of the premises sublet or assigned by said lessee.
PERSON
Includes any individual, firm, corporation, association or partnership.
PROPERTY
A lot or parcel of real property or a combination of lots or parcels that together form a single piece of real property.
VACANT PROPERTY
"Property"
A. 
Whether or not the real property is improved with a building or other structure—that has not been lawfully used or legally occupied for more than 90 days unless an exception under § 180-4 applies. When determining whether the property is vacant, the following shall be considered:
(1) 
Abandoned vehicle or auto parts;
(2) 
Absence of window coverings;
(3) 
Accumulated mail and/or newspapers;
(4) 
Accumulated trash;
(5) 
Property maintenance standard violations (i.e., code violations) that are uncorrected for a period of 30 days or more;
(6) 
Overgrown or dead vegetation;
(7) 
Past due utility notices, utilities are disconnected, or utilities show low use;
(8) 
Absence of furnishing or other indicators of occupancy;
(9) 
Boarded up or broken windows or doors;
(10) 
Deferred maintenance, including, But not limited to: loose or falling gutters, paint chipping, or overgrown grass;
(11) 
Neighbor complaint and/or statements of neighbors, passersby, delivery agents or government employees that the property is vacant;
(12) 
Unprotected hazards (e.g., pits/basements, contamination, hazardous substance storage); and
(13) 
Failure to respond to notices of municipal infraction.
B. 
For purposes of determining whether nonresidential property is vacant the following shall be considered in addition to the above criteria:
(1) 
Faded or missing signage;
(2) 
No parked vehicles during regular business hours on a routine basis; and
(3) 
Lack of employees or customers on a routine basis.
A. 
Registration of vacant property.
(1) 
Unless exempted, an owner, or designated agent, of vacant property located in the City shall register vacant property with the City within 30 days of the date the property became vacant. In addition, and for good cause, the City Manager may grant an owner of vacant property a reasonable extension of time to register the vacant property.
(2) 
Along with the required fee set forth in Chapter 110, the owner or agent registering a vacant property shall supply the following information:
(a) 
The name, address, email address and phone number of the owner.
(b) 
The name, address, email address and phone number of any local agent or representative.
(c) 
The legal description and tax account number(s) of the premises of the vacant real property.
(d) 
The street address of the building.
(e) 
Date on which the building became vacant.
B. 
Notice of registration requirement.
(1) 
Upon a determination by the City Manager that vacant property exists, and the property is not registered in accordance with this section, the City Manager shall provide notice to the owner or agent of the requirement to register the vacant property within 30 days using forms provided by the City. The failure of the City Manager to provide this notice, or the failure of an owner to receive notice from the City Manager, shall not relieve the owner of the obligation to register such property as vacant.
C. 
Timing.
(1) 
Registration for each vacant property shall be valid for one year from the date of registration, and shall be renewed annually thereafter until the property is no longer a vacant property.
D. 
Requirement to keep information current — removal from the vacant property registry.
(1) 
If at any time the information contained in the responsible party's vacant property registration or the owner's vacant property registration form is no longer valid, then the responsible party or owner, as applicable, has 15 days to file a new form containing valid, current information. There shall be no fee to update an existing registered responsible party's or owner's current information.
(2) 
Should a vacant property become occupied at any time after registration, then the responsible party or owner, as applicable, shall file an amended registration form within 15 days of occupancy notifying the City of such occupancy along with corroborating documentation and requesting that the property be removed from the vacant property registry. The City shall remove such property from the registry within 30 days of the filing of the amended registration form, unless the City determines that there is evidence of vacancy and reason to believe that the property is vacant and subject to registration.
E. 
Waiver.
(1) 
A waiver, in whole or in part, of the vacant property registration fee and penalties may be granted by the Public Services Director based on proof of hardship. A hardship exists when the vacant property in the City is the result of an act of nature, such as flooding, or other one-time event or special circumstance, such as illness (with submittal of medical records signed by a medical doctor) or death (with submittal of a death certificate), or move to a retirement or assisted-living facility. The waiver request shall be submitted within 30 days of the property becoming vacant. A denial of a waiver may be appealed to the City Manager, whose decision shall be final.
No registration of a vacant property is required when:
A. 
Parcel is for sale. Six months of exemption is provided for properties actively listed with exemption extendible for an additional six months upon a showing that the property remains active for sale.
B. 
Parcel is in active development/redevelopment, as shown by active building permits (permits issued within six months, visible construction progress), in process detailed site plan, or other official filings.
C. 
Owner has the intent to return to occupy the property and has provided the City with an anticipated timetable for occupancy.
D. 
Students/residents are away for the summer/winter with intent to return.
E. 
Governmental or judicial action that prevents occupancy that includes, but is not limited to: code violation, stop-work order, foreclosure, court order, probate.
F. 
Property has never been graded or cleared of naturally occurring vegetation.
G. 
Multifamily residential properties comprised of two or three dwelling units and at least one dwelling unit is occupied.
H. 
Multifamily residential property comprised of four or more dwelling units with an occupancy rate at or above 50%.
I. 
Nonresidential development under common ownership or management with space for two or three separate tenants and at least one space is occupied by a tenant engaged in a business, charitable, educational or non-profit enterprise.
J. 
Nonresidential development under common ownership or management with space for four or more separate tenants and at least 50% of the space is occuped by a tenant engaged in a business, charitable, educational or non-profit enterprise.
Mixed-use development comrpised of residential and nonresidential spaces is subject to the provisions of this article, regardless of whether the mix of uses is vertical or horizontal. Owners shall register the residential and/or the nonresidential portion of the mixed-use development if the space is vacant and not exempt under § 180-4.
A. 
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a municipal infraction subject to the penalty provided in Chapter 110, Fees and Penalties, of this Code.
B. 
Every 30-day period during which a violation of this article continues shall constitute a separate municipal infraction.
C. 
The registration of a vacant building shall not preclude action by the City to force repair of the building or to initiate condemnation and demolition of the building pursuant to other provisions of this Code or other law.
D. 
Fees and penalties established in this article, which are not paid as required therein, shall be included in the nonpayer's real property tax bill and shall be collected as City taxes are collected, and the charges shall be due and payable at the time of payment of the tax bill. In the case of a municipal infraction, the fine shall not be deemed due and owing the City until such time as a judgment or order therefor is issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. Such charges shall constitute a lien on the nonpayer's real property.