County enacts state law for unsafe buildings

Assistant Editor

Putnam County has a new tool at its disposal to monitored unsafe buildings in the county.

On Tuesday, the Putnam County Commissioners passed an ordinance adopting the State of Indiana Unsafe Building Law.

Although already defined in Indiana Code Chapter 36-7-9, the Unsafe Building Law is only effective in localities that choose to adopt it and appoint a department to administer the ordinance.

The commissioners adopted the law unanimously, appointing the Board of Zoning Appeals to administer and enforce it.

The matter has already gone before the BZA, whose members reached a consensus that they were comfortable with the arrangement. BZA President Lora Scott spoke with the commissioners regarding the issue during a December meeting.

Under the law, a complaint about an unsafe building can now be filed with the Putnam County Building and Planning Department.

Such complaints will then be investigated by the Planning Department or the Health Department, depending on the exact nature of the problem. Conveniently, the two departments share a common office space in the Putnam County Hospital Office Building at 1542 S. Bloomington St., Suite 1500, Greencastle.

According to state law, a structure can be deemed unsafe if it is: in an impaired structural condition that makes it unsafe to a person or property; a fire hazard; a hazard to the public health; a public nuisance; dangerous to a person or property because of a violation of a statute or ordinance concerning building condition or maintenance;  or vacant or blighted and not maintained in a manner that would allow human habitation, occupancy, or use under the requirements of a statute or an ordinance.

If a building is deemed to be unsafe, the BZA now has the authority to order a number of courses of action including vacating the buidling; sealing the building; extrimination of vermin; removal of trash, debris, fire hazardous material or a public health hazard; repair or rehabilitation; and demolition or removal of part or all of the buidling.

Some of these options will require a hearing before the BZA before enacted.

Anyone with questions regarding the county’s new policy on unsafe buildings may call the Putnam County Building and Planning Department at 658-2786.