Dangerous buildings, abandoned structures, litter, and overgrown weeds have a dramatic impact on a community. Blight lowers property values, negatively impacts the economy, increases crime, and damages residents’ well-being and connection to their community. Blight has been defined under several state statutes, but basically a blighted property is one that has been declared a public nuisance in accordance with a local housing, building, plumbing, fire, or other related code or ordinance. Our blight and property maintenance resources include the appropriate tools and enforcement procedures necessary to address these problems.

League Publications

• Blight Busters: Sending Out a Detroit Ripple, The Review, March/April 2013
• Bonner v Brighton: Demolition of Unoccupied Structures Under City Ordinance
• Community Driven Nuisance Abatement Case Study
• Michigan Foreclosure Task Force, The Review, Nov/Dec 2013
• Operation Clean Sweep: Warren Cleans Up Targeted Neighborhoods, The Review, Jan/Feb 2013
• Restoring Michigan Communities Building by Building
  • Powerpoint presentation to accompany the report
• Vacant Property Campaign: From Eyesore to Opportunity, The Review, Nov/Dec 2013

Toolkits & Reports

• Michigan Communities and Squatting: What You Need to Know, Michigan Community Resources and the Michigan Vacant Property Campaign
• Redeveloping Commercial Vacant Properties in Legacy Cities: A Guidebook to Linking Property Reuse and Economic Revitalization, Greater Ohio Policy Center
• Vacant Property Toolbox, Second Edition, Michigan Community Resources and the Detroit Vacant Property Campaign –  A toolkit providing communities with a variety of strategies:
  • Neighborhood-based vacant property campaigns;
  • Marketing blighted neighborhoods;
  • Greening vacant land;
  • Addressing vacant commercial properties;
  • Nonprofit-led vacant property efforts.

Sample Ordinances

Click on the links below to view sample blight-related ordinances from across the state.:

• Abandoned/Vacant Property
• Blight
• Civil Infractions for Property Violations
• Dangerous Buildings
• Demolition
• Junk, Trash, and Rubbish
• Property Maintenance
• Registration: Abandoned/Vacant Property
• Unsafe Structures
• Weeds

Contact: Member Services
Phone: 734.662.3246 or E-mail: [email protected]