SAUK RAPIDS -- Sauk Rapids wants to make sure vacant buildings and parking lots in the city are being maintained. A public hearing on the issue will be held during Monday's city council meeting.

Community Development Director Todd Schultz says they are proposing an amendment to an existing ordinance. About four years ago the city adopted a residential property maintenance code, and last year they added a commercial component to it. He says this new amendment would deal specifically with parking lots and buildings of vacant properties.

Just making sure that they are cleaned up, particularly in the spring after the snowmelt.  Making sure you don't have large potholes and things like that.  It also has a component for vacant buildings as well, kind of a registration process for buildings that have been empty for a certain period of time and just making sure that they are kept up in a reasonable state.

Schultz says, if the amendment passes, the first step would be to talk to the property owners and make them aware of the violations, but if the problems persist they could be fined.

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