Trinidad weighs tougher action on vacant, deteriorating downtown properties

Vacant storefronts and fire-damaged buildings are forcing Trinidad leaders to weigh stronger enforcement, not just more complaints. At a June 8 work session and special meeting, the Trinidad City Council revisited how to deal with deteriorating properties downtown and elsewhere, including whether the city should sell liens on problem properties and tighten ordinances so staff can act more effectively.

The debate is no longer cosmetic. Trinidad’s building department says its anti-dilapidation ordinance is meant to prevent and remedy deterioration and neglect that threaten public health, safety and welfare, and the city code places nuisance responsibility on owners even if they are not in possession of the property. That legal framework matters as the city looks for tools that can force action without leaving Trinidad responsible for buildings it cannot afford to repair.

City staff reported 205 vacant properties across Trinidad, but only 30 are registered through the city’s vacant property registry. Officials also said the city has 39 active anti-dilapidation cases. Those numbers suggest a persistent enforcement burden, and the costs are adding up even before demolition or contractor work begins. Trinidad has spent roughly $2,000 on postage for vacant-property notices, not counting abatement costs.

One of the sharpest examples presented to council involved a fire-damaged property with an estimated demolition cost of $118,000. City officials said asbestos contamination makes cleanup more difficult and more expensive, underscoring why some buildings can quickly become liabilities that outstrip what the city can realistically absorb.

Police and fire personnel told council that vacant properties repeatedly generate trespassing, suspicious activity, nuisance complaints and fires. For a downtown trying to project stability, those repeated calls can become a hidden tax on city departments and a drag on nearby blocks. Trinidad’s housing materials also point to the scale of the opportunity if problem properties can be brought back into use, with a city survey finding about 65 vacant downtown units that could return to the workforce-housing pool and about 20 more eligible units identified under the anti-dilapidation ordinance.

The same meeting also reflected a broader question about priorities: how much Trinidad should continue putting into tourism while downtown properties remain underused or blighted. Tourism funding comes from a portion of the city’s 6% lodging tax, and the Lodging Tax Advisory Board has five volunteer members who advise council on those dollars. Council later rejected an ordinance that would have removed the board, but the city has still been wrestling with lodging-tax revenue coming in below expectations and arts-and-culture requests outpacing available funds.

Trinidad adopted a 2026 city budget of $79,636,075 on Dec. 31, 2025, but the vacant-property debate and the tourism-funding rethink now point in the same direction: city leaders want visible results, and they are signaling that incremental fixes may no longer be enough. City Manager Tara Marshall said staff will return with draft ordinance revisions aimed at stronger enforcement, a move that could reshape how Trinidad handles blight, rehabilitation and downtown investment in the months ahead.