La Grange, MO Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Chapter 565, first adopted in 1979 and amended by Ordinance No. 387 in 1997, gives La Grange's Building Inspector and Mayor, acting as Building Commissioner, authority over blighted structures. Section 565.010 lists nine defects that make a building dangerous and unsafe, including walls that lean past a safe plumb line, 33 percent or more damage to a supporting member, inadequate fire egress, and Subsection (A)(5)'s catch-all for a building so dilapidated, decayed, unsanitary or lacking basic amenities that it is unfit for human habitation or likely to cause sickness.

Section 565.020(A)(4) declares every building meeting those standards a public nuisance outright, to be repaired, vacated or removed. The process runs through written notice: the Building Inspector must notify the owner, occupant, lessee, mortgagee and any other interested party of record, giving up to 30 days to repair, vacate or remove the structure. If the owner does not comply, the Mayor as Building Commissioner holds a hearing under Section 565.040, and if the evidence supports a nuisance finding, orders removal or repair; the City can then have the work done and certify the cost as a special tax bill against the property, payable in installments over up to ten years at 10 percent annual interest.

An owner may appeal a Building Commissioner order to the Circuit Court of Lewis County within 30 days under Section 565.050. In emergencies presenting immediate danger to life or safety, Section 565.060 lets the Building Inspector report directly to the Mayor for immediate repair, vacation or removal, with costs collected the same way.