While it did gain the support of 39 percent of Town Meeting voters Tuesday night, a citizen's petition article to require the registration of abandoned buildings was not approved.

The bylaw, proposed by Wareham resident Joe Mulkern, would have imposed maintenance obligations on the owners of vacant or abandoned properties and required the owner to register with the town and pay an annual registration fee of $100. Mulkern said the proposed bylaw is the same as one adopted by Walpole three years ago.

Many residents and town officials expressed their disgust with the multitude of abandoned buildings around town and offered support for the intention of the bill, but not it's execution.

"As much as I like it, it needs to go back and be refined," said Finance Committee Chairman Larry McDonald.

Resident Martin Cahill said he fully supported the article.

“I think its a great town but I think a good portion of the town is falling down,” he said. Cahill said there was a house in his neighborhood in total disaray that was abandoned for 30 years.

Business owner John Salerno said the bylaw seemed like a step in the right direction.

“If you have a good building you have to pay all kind of fees to maintain it, if you have a bad building it doesn’t seem like you have to do much but pay your taxes,” he said.

But neither the Selectmen nor the Finance Committee supported the article.

"It doesn't really do anything except cost the town money," said Selectman Patrick Tropeano. "You want them [owners of abandoned properties] to pay money they don't have and the town spends money to try and enforce it. We have to use the bylaws we have to enforce compliance."

Town Attorney Richard Bowen said the article requires the building inspector to go out and look at a derelict building and after makes a determination on whether it is abandoned, can send a notice to the party who abandoned the building requiring them to come to town hall, fill out a registration form, and have them pay a $100 annual registration fee.

"If they don't come it empowers the officials to write a ticket to that person," Bowen said. He said if the person who abandoned the property doesn't pay the ticket(s), the town could take the party to court to get the tickets enforced or have the money that wasn't paid added to the tax roll.

Mulkern has previously said he has counted nearly 50 abandoned and derelict buildings in town.

"I applaud him for doing the work on this and it's probably a baby step but its a step, said resident and School Committee member Mike Flaherty. "I've heard that we have things in place to get this done but it's not getting done."