Under-Utilization Fees

The problem

Everyone knows the block with the vacant lot that's been fenced off for years, or the empty storefront collecting dust while rents rise. Underused property drags down neighborhoods and gives owners no reason to change.

The plan

Under-Utilization Fees give the city a tool to nudge idle property back into productive use: a fee structure for chronically under-utilized commercial and residential property, designed with legal review to be fair, defensible, and targeted at real vacancy — not working owners.

Revenue from the fee flows back into the neighborhoods it comes from, and no fee is assessed until the legal gates are cleared and Council acts.

How you’ll know it’s working

• Legal review completed and published
• Vacancy criteria defined with due-process protections
• Eligible properties identified through public data
• Revenue reinvested into originating neighborhoods

From the Blueprint

• A parcel triggers assessment after 18 consecutive months below 50% of its Form-Based Code density or use potential.
• The annual fee runs 1% to 5% of assessed land value, scaled by the utilization gap and duration, and escalates the longer land sits idle.
• Year 1 targets 50 to 75 egregious parcels; years 2-3 expand to 200-300 parcels across former CRA districts.
• Revenue is earmarked 60% to infrastructure and 40% to a modular housing reserve; appeals are limited to documented construction or active permits.
• Days 0-90: draft the ordinance for Council introduction; months 1-6: finalize the FBC assessment methodology.