High Point, NC Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- City power
- Order repair or demolition
- Due process
- Hearing required before order
- Appeal
- Board of adjustment
- Noncompliance
- Misdemeanor, daily offense
Summary
High Point's Abandoned Structure Code (§ 9-2-192) lets the city order repair, closing or demolition of structures that are a fire, safety or vagrancy hazard within the city and its environs.
The city council hereby finds and declares that there exists within the city limits and its environs abandoned structures which are a health or safety hazard as a result of the attraction of insects or rodents, conditions creating a fire hazard, dangerous conditions constituting a threat to children or frequent use by vagrants as living quarters in the absence of sanitary facilities. In order to alleviate these unsafe and dangerous conditions for the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the City of High Point and its environs, a public necessity exists to exercise the police powers conferred upon the city for the repair, closing or demolition of such structures.
(Ord. No. 7206/16-26, § 4, 5-16-16)
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 9 | Development Ordinance: Supplement 14).
Full Breakdown
§ 9-2-192 declares that abandoned structures posing a health or safety hazard, from fire risk to vagrant occupancy without sanitary facilities, justify the city's use of its police power to order repair, closing or demolition. Under § 9-2-193, an inspector must post a warning, serve a formal complaint, and hold a hearing before ordering corrective action; owners can appeal an adverse order to the board of adjustment under § 9-2-194.
Violations & Fines
Failing to comply with a repair, close, or demolition order is a misdemeanor under § 9-2-201, with each day of continued noncompliance or unlawful occupancy a separate offense; costs become a property lien.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can High Point force the demolition of an abandoned building?
Can a property owner appeal a demolition order?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in High Point
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Property Blight in Nearby Cities
How other cities in this county handle property blight.