West Des Moines, IA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Subsection 4-4-2(D) reaches a dilapidated building three ways: a structure unfit for human habitation, one kept in such an unsanitary condition that it menaces the health of nearby residents, or any building the city has adopted the 1988 Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings to classify as dangerous. A companion subsection, 4-4-2(E), separately declares any abandoned building or structure a nuisance on its own. Once cited, the City Manager or a Community Compliance Specialist can serve a notice to abate by personal service or, if that fails, by two of three alternate methods: certified and regular mail, three consecutive weeks of newspaper publication, or posting on the property, under § 4-4-5.

If the case goes through administrative proceedings, the notice must describe the violation, set a deadline to abate, and warn that unpaid abatement costs will be assessed against the property like a property tax, with an appeal right to the city council or district court by writ of certiorari under § 4-4-6. Remedies listed in § 4-4-8(A) reach as far as boarding an unoccupied building, barricading or fencing it, removing dangerous portions, and demolishing a dangerous or abandoned structure outright; § 4-4-9 lets the City skip notice altogether and abate immediately if the building is an imminent danger, billing the owner afterward and offering a hearing only after the fact.