BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM -- The Potsdam Village Board of Trustees has further fine-tuned its new vacant property law.

The board revised the village’s vacant property law at a meeting after a public hearing Monday, Oct. 5.

Local Law No. 3-2026 passed by the board at the meeting further amends Chapter 164 of the Village of Potsdam Municipal Code, known as the Vacant Property Law. The measure is a modified version of a vacant-property law approved by the board this past July, with changes made to some of the numbering and organization.

The need to pass the law again was due to a numbering issue village officials said at the Sept. 21st meeting.

“It was a slight numbering issue,” said Village Clerk Georgine Scott at the September meeting. “One part of the law referred to a section that was mislabeled, so it was referring to nothing. So we corrected that and the full text is available on the website. It's the same substance as the last update.”

As before, the law sets up a framework to create a village-wide registry and sets fees and penalties intended to encourage owners to maintain, sell or reoccupy properties that remain vacant.

No residents offered comments on the proposed law during the hearing on Oct. 5.

As before, the village’s vacant property law allows the village to fine owners of vacant properties that have sat idle for months up to $100 a day in some cases and up to $1,000 a year if the properties are not registered under the new law.

While the law does not target any specific properties in the village, the new ordinance and fine structure could spark some movement by property owners to fill several unoccupied storefronts on Market Street that have been largely abandoned for years in some cases.

The village has been putting the finishing touches on a state-funded Downtown Revitalization Initiative overhaul of Market Street, however, there are still several prominent storefronts that are empty and abandoned in the corridor.

The amended Chapter 164 Vacant Property of the Village of Potsdam Municipal Code sets down definitions, fines and enforcement allowances and the village hopes the main changes give the Code Enforcement Officer a little more flexibility when determining whether a property meets the definition of a vacant property.

If a property is found to be vacant by the village code enforcement officer, the owner needs to register it with the village within 60 days or be fined.

Fees start at $100 per day for each day after the 60 days that the owner does not register. If the owner doesn’t pay any fee required within 6 months of the date the fee first came due, they will be charged with an additional $100 per day for each day the fee stays unpaid.

A property that remains continuously vacant for twelve (12) months shall thereafter be subject to an annual vacant property fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000), the law says. For properties remaining vacant beyond the first annual fee period, each subsequent annual fee shall be double the prior fee amount.

Registration exemptions are available to property owners who meet certain requirements, notably if they are trying to sell, rent or rehab the parcel or building, or if its tied up in legal wrangling.

The local law amending the vacant property ordinance approved by the village board Oct. 5 with the amended numbering will take effect when it is filed with the New York secretary of state.