Eyesore buildings in Fresno's Tower District are the target of a new effort by the city, which will use a new law to rouse owners who don't maintain their buildings.

The Vacant Business Ordinance is a pilot project that is being tested in Tower, where buildings like those once occupied by a Starbucks and Babylon Club have sat blighted and unoccupied for years.

The Chicken Pie Shop hasn't opened its doors since the diner's owner retired in 2019, and its boarded up windows can be seen from across Olive Avenue at Cuca's Restaurant.

"I'm hoping that they're going to make them clean it up," Cuca's manager Gina Daniels said. "I do think that it doesn't look right."

Daniels said she was concerned that a building so obviously empty and blemished could attract bad attention. She said her shop has struggled in past years with vandalism and unhoused people sleeping in the doorway who may be aggressive.

"They have all their stuff and people are afraid to go into our business," she said.

The Chicken Pie Shop restaurant in Fresno's Tower District closed back in 2019 and since then the building has been shuttered with no word on prospects for reopening or a new tenant.

The ordinance, adopted in June, set fines for building owners who leave their building in disrepair, and gives the city the leeway to begin assessing fines that start at $250 and can go up incrementally every 30 days up to $10,000.

The Fresno City Attorney's Office, which oversees code enforcement, can determine a building is within compliance if the owner is actively seeking a permit to do work on it, working to sell it or if it otherwise is determined to be not an abandoned structure, according to the ordinance.

Business owners in the Tower District largely support the idea, according to Cami Cipolla, the executive director of the Tower District Business Association.

"Far too often, neglected and poorly maintained properties undermine community pride, deter investment, and create public safety concerns," Cipolla said in a statement said. "Property owners must be active partners in sustaining the vitality of our neighborhoods."

The association said eyesore buildings also "undermine community pride, deter investment and create public safety concerns."

The new ordinance was sponsored by Council members Annalisa Perea and Miguel Arias, whose districts are split by the Tower District.

The pilot applies to buildings within the area bordered by McKinley, Blackstone, Belmont and Palm avenues. Between a dozen and 20 blighted properties are already on the radar, according to Perea.

"It's to let the community know absent building owners will no longer steer the ship," she said. "We were wanting something a little more rigid. This ordinance requires more frequent inspections."

The inspections are quarterly and are meant to force the owners to comply or sell to someone who will, she said.

Tower residents and visitors often ask for a greater diversity in the types of shops in the area beyond just night life. The ordinance may help spur that change.

Tower also has a higher density than many parts of town so a vacant building can be a fire hazard for multiple buildings.

Perea said she is working on an incentive program to draw more small business owners to the area, including a potential sale tax rebate.

"It's an innovative approach," she said. "We're heading into uncharted waters, but it fits into the entrepreneurial spirit of Tower. We can't be afraid to try new things."

Tower District has been used before by city leaders as a litmus test. Two years ago, the neighborhood was the test site for new rules for street vendors, which now apply across the city.

Toward the northern end of Tower at Food King Market, Nick Alset said his corner of the Tower District has been quiet during his three years as manager of the store.

He feels bad for owners who might not have the money to fix their place and for whatever reason can't sell it. But, the buildings can't be left looking so ugly, he said.

"Whatever looks bad will bring bad people," he said. "You can't just leave it like it is. (The owner) has to do something about it."

The Babylon Club in the Tower District is still closed more than a decade after copper wire thieves caused extensive damage to the building.

The space once occupied by Starbucks on Olive Avenue in the Tower District is still closed with a chain link fence covering the entrance. Starbucks closed the location during the coronavirus outbreak in 2020.