Taylor, MI Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Grass/weeds limit
- 8 inches (residential zones)
- Uninhabitable structure
- Blighting factor, § 20-264(5)
- Notice period to correct
- 10 days
- Enforcement mechanism
- City abatement plus property lien
- Also applies to
- Nonresidential zones per § 20-265
Summary
In residential zones the City of Taylor treats an uninhabitable, storm-damaged structure and an unsecured vacant dwelling as blighting factors under Taylor City Code § 20-264, alongside eight-inch-plus grass and outdoor junk storage. The city can order the owner to fix the condition within ten days or step in and bill the cost.
It is hereby determined that the following uses, structures and activities are causes of blight or blighting factors which, if allowed to exist, will tend to result in blighted and undesirable neighborhoods. No person shall maintain or permit to be maintained any of these causes of blight or blighting factors upon any property in the city owned, leased, rented or occupied by such person. ... (5)In any area zoned for residential purposes, the existence of any structure or part of a structure which because of fire, wind or other nature disaster, or physical deterioration is no longer habitable, as a dwelling, nor useful for any other purpose for which it may have been intended.(6)In any area zoned for residential purposes, the existence of any vacant dwelling, garage, or other outbuilding which is not kept securely locked, windows kept glazed or neatly boarded up and otherwise protected to prevent entrance thereto by vandals.
Full Breakdown
Section 20-264 of the Taylor City Code lists the conditions Taylor treats as causes of blight in any residentially zoned area, and § 20-265 extends the same list to nonresidential zones unless the use is incidental to a lawful business. Beyond the familiar grass-and-weeds limit of eight inches and outdoor junk storage, subsection (5) reaches any structure or part of a structure that fire, wind, another natural disaster or physical deterioration has left no longer habitable as a dwelling or useful for any other purpose it was built for, and subsection (6) reaches any vacant dwelling, garage or outbuilding that is not kept securely locked, with windows glazed or neatly boarded, so vandals cannot get in.
Subsection (7) also covers a partially built structure whose construction has stalled without a valid, subsisting building permit or is not finished within a reasonable time. Enforcement runs through § 20-266: the owner and occupant get written notice, served personally, by registered mail, or by posting on the property and at City Hall, and they have ten days to remove or eliminate the blighting factor, though the enforcement officer may extend that deadline where a bona fide cleanup effort is already underway. If the owner does not act and does not give the city written assurance the condition will be kept fixed going forward, the city keeps abating the blight at the owner's expense and places a lien on the property for the cost, enforced the same way as a delinquent special assessment tax lien.
Violations & Fines
An owner or occupant who lets a fire-damaged or storm-damaged structure sit uninhabitable, or leaves a vacant dwelling or outbuilding unlocked and unboarded, faces a written or posted notice under § 20-266 and ten days to correct it. If the condition is not fixed and the owner never gives the city written assurance it will stay fixed, the city abates it at the owner's expense and records a lien on the property, collectible the same way as an unpaid special assessment tax.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Taylor require me to fix a fire-damaged house?
What if I leave for a while and my house sits vacant?
What happens if I don't clean up a cited blight condition?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Taylor
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Property Blight in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Wayne County handle property blight.