ADRIAN — Adrian city commissioners are hoping to add some teeth to the city’s vacant buildings ordinance.

At the August 5 city commission meeting, Commissioner Kelly Castleberry reported on her research into what some other cities do.

One thing she found is that some cities require vacant buildings to be not just registered, but also inspected regularly.

“If a building is registered and nobody look into it for 10 years, say, we may not know what’s happening inside it,” she said.

One example is the buildings on South Main Street that were torn down recently. After acquiring the properties, the city found that stormwater had gotten inside the buildings and rotted the wood so badly that demolition was the only viable option.

Castleberry also noted another property that was raided by law enforcement recently because it had become a hub for drug activity. Over about a six-year period, she said, there had been at least 27 police and fire calls to that address.

A lot of communities also require the owners of vacant buildings to file a plan stating what they intend to do with them, Castleberry said.

Commissioners were generally in agreement with the idea of doing more about vacant buildings. However, Commissioner Bob Behnke said it’s important not to penalize people who are in situations like trying to sell the home of a deceased parent.

Castleberry agreed and said that exceptions can be worked into an ordinance.

Castleberry is part of a committee that’s been working on this issue, along with Commissioners Gordon Gauss and Matt Schwartz. Schwartz said this topic is in the discussion stage right now, and the committee isn’t ready to bring a full proposal to the commission yet.

To read the city’s current vacant buildings ordinance, click here. (If the link does not automatically go to the correct section, look for Chapter 10, Article V.)