By James Colter
At their workshop meeting on Wed. Apr. 1, Lake Wales city commissioners discussed a proposed ordinance addressing vacant buildings within the downtown area.
Here is the full ordinance: ORDINANCE 2026-01
The draft ordinance would require properties to meet minimum maintenance standards and would require commercial buildings that remain vacant beyond 90 days to be registered with the city. Owners of noncompliant properties would have to register and pay a fee.
“Vacant commercial buildings are a visual blight to the Downtown Historic Overlay District and can pose serious threats to the public health, safety, and welfare,” the ordinance read. “The presence of vacant commercial buildings can create a public nuisance, lower property values, and discourage economic development in the area.”
Community Redevelopment Agency Coordinator Ronni Wood presented a revised version of the ordinance, noting that the required occupancy threshold had been lowered from 80 percent to 75 percent after concerns that it was too strict.
Commissioner Carol Gillespie questioned several definitions in the draft, particularly the lack of clarity around vacant lots. She argued it would be unreasonable to expect lot owners to construct a building simply to comply.
“If someone buys a lot, will they need to build something within 180 days?” she asked.
Gillespie insisted that such a requirement would deter potential property owners from purchasing vacant lots if they were required to build something on them. City Manager James Slaton replied that the city currently faces the opposite problem.
“I wish we had that problem, quite honestly, because what we have is the opposite,” he said. “We have vacant land that has been in ownership for years and years, and they [owners] will not build or sell it.”
Wood added that the ordinance discussion included both buildings and lots as part of broader efforts to encourage infill, calling empty parcels “a missing tooth in a smile.”
Commissioner Keith Thompson said the goal is to curb speculative buying that leaves downtown properties idle. But he and Mayor Jack Hilligoss warned that pushing owners to quickly fill space could lead to undesirable businesses opening simply to meet the requirement.
Gillespie also objected to language requiring the preservation of “historic integrity,” calling the term vague and burdensome for property owners.
She also raised concerns about fines for boarded windows lasting more than 60 days, noting the city itself sometimes boards buildings. Slaton responded that such cases typically stem from code violations, meaning owners are already subject to penalties.
Gillespie further questioned why the ordinance lacked a specified fee. Wood said the fee would be set during the second reading, once the commission finalizes the ordinance’s details. Hilligoss agreed that the policy framework should be settled before assigning a dollar amount.
“We all feel comfortable with the code part, but we need to give more time to the fee, and I do not know if we want to put the amount of the fee in the ordinance,” Hilligoss said.
Slaton said staff will incorporate the commission’s feedback and return with a revised draft in the coming weeks.
