Forty-five local vacant buildings generate revenue, problems

REVERE-The city is moving to tear down or get repaired a vacant building at 60 Warren St. even as inspectors keep an eye on 44 other local structures standing empty across the city.City inspectors ordered Gloria Avila of Randolph to fix up 60 Warren or start tearing it down. A fire damaged the building?s second floor last month and Mayor Thomas Ambrosino ordered inspectors to ensure the building did not pose a threat to public safety.The two and half story wood frame house has been a sort spot for neighbors and city officials since May 11, 2004 when former resident Albert Hovasse was killed after a welding torch he was using to repair pipes in the house started a fire.City inspectors ordered the house boarded up but Municipal Inspections Director Nicholas Catinazzo in October said the property had become trash strewn and a target for vandalism.The city received assurances on at least one occasion that repairs were planned for 60 Warren and a fire inspector was told workers were in the building days before the most recent fire.Catinazzo said inspectors sent several letters to Avila and fined her after inspections determined 60 Warren was in violation of municipal ordinances governing property maintenance.Inspectors sent a letter to Avila on May 8 and another on October 22 warning her 60 Warren “was dangerous to life or limb.”In an effort to motivate owners to fix up vacant property, the city took a cue this year from Wilmington, Delaware and adopted a vacant building fee system.The annual “registration fee” ranges from $500 for a building vacant for less than a year to $3,000 for a building vacant for three years or more.Ambrosino called the fees a way to offset “significant costs” associated with making sure the buildings do not become a refuge for drug dealers or individuals who might set the properties on fire.City records list most of the vacant property owners as local residents but Quincy, Marblehead, Boston and Peabody companies own vacant local building.