Two of the most destructive, costly and dangerous fires the Jamestown Fire Department has fought in recent years have come in vacant industrial buildings.

That’s more than enough to justify the city taking a tougher stance on vacant properties in both residential and commercial neighborhoods. So far, fires in vacant buildings have only cost money and time. Eventually the cost will be higher.

That’s why, in our opinion, it’s hard to disagree with the intent of a vacant property ordinance proposed recently by city development officials and presented to the City Council for approval. More discussions on the plan will be held during Monday’s council meeting with possible approval at the end of the month.

Vacant building owners will be required to create a Vacant Building Plan explaining how they will comply with city codes and pay a $250 cost to register the building and reimburse the city for monitoring the site. The plan is to include a timeline laying out what work needs to be done to bring the property up to code and a rough estimate for the amount of time necessary for said repairs to be made. The ordinance requires property owners to secure their buildings to keep people out of them, maintain the yard, remove any graffiti or tags on the exterior of the building and paint all boarded openings a color similar to the rest of the building or in an earth-toned color. Building owners will have to make sure a building’s windows, doors, gates and other openings can be closed and locked. Broken windows that would let a person inside a building will be required to be repaired, reglazed or boarded up.

The vacant property ordinance would include fees for vacant residential and commercial properties that increase each year the building is vacant. The residential vacant property fee starts at $500 and escalates to $2,000 over the course of five years while the commercial fee begins at $1,000 a year and escalates to $5,000 over five years.

In our view the main sticking point with this ordinance is this – how far is too far? Jamestown has a right to protect itself from the destructive fires in vacant structures that place both firefighters and the surrounding neighborhoods at risk. But the city also should want to make sure its vacant property ordinance isn’t so strict as to discourage investment in vacant buildings.