Wausau, WI Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Trigger
- Building 'dangerous, unsafe, insanitary or unfit' for use
- Ordering authority
- City Building Inspector, Section 15.32.010
- Owner's options
- Raze and remove, or repair and make safe
- State process
- Wis. Stat. Section 66.0413 governs order and proceedings
- Nuisance status
- Also declared a nuisance under Section 9.24.050(g)
- Nuisance penalty
- $1,000-$2,500 first offense, Section 9.24.090
Summary
Wausau's Building Inspector can order an owner to raze, remove or repair any building so old, dilapidated or unsafe that it is unfit for human use, under Municipal Code Section 15.32.010, following the process in Wis. Stat. Section 66.0413. The City separately declares such dilapidated, dangerous structures a public nuisance under Section 9.24.050(g).
(g)All buildings or structures so old, dilapidated or out of repair as to be dangerous, unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise unfit for human use; ... Whenever the Building Inspector finds any building or part thereof within the City to be in his judgment so old, dilapidated or so out of repair as to be dangerous, unsafe, insanitary or otherwise unfit for human habitation, occupancy or use, and so that it would be unreasonable to repair the same, he shall order the owner to raze and remove such building or part thereof, or if it can be made safe by repairs, to repair and make safe and sanitary or to raze and remove at the owner's option.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 12 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
010, carried into the Code from Ordinance No. 61-4605 in 1987, gives the Building Inspector authority to act whenever a building or part of one within Wausau is, in the Inspector's judgment, so old, dilapidated or out of repair as to be dangerous, unsafe, insanitary or otherwise unfit for human habitation, occupancy or use, and unreasonable to repair. The Inspector orders the owner either to raze and remove the structure, or, if it can be made safe, to repair it and make it safe and sanitary, or to raze and remove it at the owner's option.
The order and proceedings follow the state razing statute, Wis. Stat. 0413. 050(g), part of the City's general Safety and Peace Nuisances list, backs up that authority by separately declaring buildings so old, dilapidated or out of repair as to be dangerous, unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise unfit for human use a public nuisance in its own right, alongside items like abandoned refrigerators and inoperative wrecked vehicles. 070 for properties that repeatedly draw enforcement action.
Violations & Fines
Chapter 15.32 sets no standalone fine; failing to comply with a razing or repair order exposes an owner to the City completing the work and assessing the cost against the property as a special tax charge, similar to the excavation remedy in Section 9.24.060. A nuisance citation under Chapter 9.24 instead carries a forfeiture of $1,000.00 to $2,500.00 for a first offense and $2,500.00 to $5,000.00 for a repeat offense within 24 months, under Section 9.24.090.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who decides a building is unsafe in Wausau?
What if I don't comply with a razing order?
Is a dilapidated building also a nuisance violation in Wausau?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Wausau
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Property Blight in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Marathon County handle property blight.