More than a few local leaders think Atlanta’s laws are too lax for folks who sit on properties and let them decay, hoping they’ll one day be worth a pretty penny.
Blight certainly isn’t rare in Atlanta, especially on the city’s Westside and Southside. It’s also not easy to get these properties — eyesores of boarded-up homes, heaps of trash and rampant overgrowth — cleaned up and put back into use, and punishing the folks who neglect them is easier said than done.
That’s why folks like Cecil Phillips, an affordable housing developer, say city officials should find a way to really bring down the hammer of justice on those who allow this scourge to endure. Laws should be enacted, the Place Properties CEO told Atlanta Civic Circle, to more aggressively fine property owners who shrug off code enforcement violations, letting nature take its course with their assets.
