đź“°BIDDEFORD | Vacant Building Ordinance Registration & Fees
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April 23, 2026, In case you missed it, similarly to Portland, the City of Biddeford adopted a "Vacant Building Registration and Fee Ordinance" on April 1, 2025.
City officials cited the purpose of the ordinance as a remedy to address what they deem as "negative impacts" from vacant buildings in Biddeford.
According to the ordinance, A "vacant building" is a building or structure, regardless of its zoning designation, that meets either of the following criteria:
Unoccupied or largely unused. The building as a whole is unoccupied and has been devoid of lawful and consistent human use or activity for a period of 60 consecutive days or more.
For multi-unit buildings, the property is considered vacant only if all units or sections within the building are unoccupied. Any portion of the building that remains lawfully occupied or actively in use will exempt the entire building from being deemed vacant.
Meeting documents state, "the City of Biddeford recognizes that vacant buildings negatively impact property values, neighborhood safety, and overall development. To address these concerns... a vacant building registration requirement and an escalating fee structure to encourage property owners to return vacant buildings to productive use", was established.
The Implementation of the ordinance begain when it was was codified in June of 2025.
Following the codification of the ordinance, mailings were sent out in June to 17 property owners requesting they register their vacant building(s).
The fees established by the ordinance are:
• First 6 months vacant: no fee
• After 6 months vacant: $300
• After 12 months vacant: $600
• After 18 months vacant" $1,200
As reported by city officals, the compliance for first 6 Months of the program is:
• 6 owners registered
• 2 owners provided "records of abandoned the property/never received notice"
• 2 owners provided "permits to repair" - this removes them from the list
• 1 owner provided "record of property being sold"
• 6 owners did not responsed
In addition, the city has sent out 2 more rounds of notices (January 2026 and April 2026) to property owners with vacant buildings requesting registration and or fees.
Concluding the presentation from city staff, General Assistance Supervisor Jacob Hammer made the following reccomendations to the Council:
1. Switch to a two-step calendar year approach.
2. All buildings will be inventoried in January. Notices will be sent to register.
3. Invoices will be sent for collection in June. A second inventory of vacant buildings will occur in June. (These buildings are not duplicates of the first inventory.
4. Notices will be sent to register. Invoices will be sent for collection in December.
In addition, Hammer reccomended that staff ammend the language in the ordinance pertaining to multi-unit buildings; remove "if all units or
sections within the building" and replace with "more than fifty percent of the total units".
To view the ordinance: https://ecode360.com/46370674
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