The Mobile City Council again delayed voting on an ordinance that would stiffen penalties for owners of blighted and vacant properties downtown, after another councilman said he needed one more week to “fine-tune” the proposal.

In September, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s office unveiled a proposal to make property owners inside the Henry Aaron Loop register vacant structures with the city, pay an annual fee and upgrade their properties with fire monitoring and plumbing systems, and more. Stimpson described the ordinance as an incentive for property owners to make their holdings add value to the city, and as a way to fight the “cancer” of blight.

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