Shelby, MI Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Section 412-28, Hazards and nuisances, gives the Village Council broad power to act against any lot, building or structure that becomes a public hazard or nuisance because of the accumulation of refuse or debris, the uncontrolled growing of weeds, age or dilapidation, or any other dangerous condition. The Council must first investigate, then issue written notice to the owner of the land or of the structure itself, describing the specific hazard and setting a compliance deadline the Council considers commensurate with the danger involved; there is no fixed number of days in the section, so the timeline is set case by case in the notice itself.

If the owner does not comply by the deadline, or cannot be identified, the Council may direct the proper Village department or agency qualified to do the work to abate the hazard, whether that means clearing debris, cutting weeds, or tearing down a dilapidated structure. Because Section 412-28 sits inside Chapter 412, the Village's special assessment chapter, abatement costs are assessed directly against the lot rather than billed as an ordinary invoice; if left unpaid they can follow the same collection track as other special assessments described earlier in that chapter, including a 1% per month delinquency penalty and eventual transfer to the annual Village tax roll with a further 4% penalty once reassessed, at which point they collect exactly like delinquent property taxes.

There is no separate appeal board named in Section 412-28; an owner's opportunity to contest the Council's findings comes during the notice period, before the compliance deadline runs. The ordinance applies Village-wide to structures and vacant, debris-strewn lots alike, giving the Council discretion the code does not tie to a numeric threshold.