Waynesville, MO Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Section 575.020 lists ten defect categories that make a structure a dangerous building, including walls that lean beyond a plumb line's middle third, thirty-three percent or greater deterioration of a supporting member, fire or wind damage that endangers occupants, inadequate light, air or fire egress, and any building presumptively vacant or abandoned for six months or more without utilities. Section 575.030 declares every dangerous building a public nuisance. The Building Inspector, who reports to the Building Commissioner (the City Administrator under Section 575.080), inspects on complaint or on Fire or Police Department referral and must notify every owner, occupant, lessee, mortgagee and agent of record with the county Recorder of Deeds under Section 575.060.

Section 575.090 gives the Building Commissioner power to hold a hearing on at least ten days' notice, issue written findings, and order repair, vacation or demolition within thirty days. If the owner does not comply, the City can do the work itself and certify the cost to the City Collector as a special tax bill and lien against the property, payable in installments over ten years at nine percent annual interest if the owner elects within ninety days. Insurance proceeds on a fire or casualty loss above fifty percent of policy value can be tapped for up to twenty-five percent of the payout to cover the City's cost.

Emergency conditions let the Building Commissioner act immediately under Section 575.110, and any interested party can appeal a determination to the Circuit Court under Section 575.100.