By Alaina Kwan | 3TV/CBS 5
Earlier this month, the City of Phoenix’s Neighborhood Services Department proposed creating an online registry for vacant properties.
It would be used for both residential and commercial properties and comes in light of the city receiving a number of calls and concerns from the community about addressing issues on vacant properties.
If there are rule violations or criminal activity taking place on a property and someone reports it, the city has to contact the property owner before taking immediate action. According to Neighborhood Services Director, Spencer Self, there are a lot of property owners that don’t live in the Valley or even the state. Therefore, they’ve run into the issue of getting in contact with owners to fix the issues quickly.
“With crime, things like trespassing, drug use or distribution, and even on occasion things like prostitution may be occurring, and when we can’t get ahold of those property owners quickly either through the Neighborhood Services Department or the police department those issues can last for longer than we’d like,” Self said.