County must keep focus on blight issue

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July 24, 2010

Anonymous The Union-Recorder The Union-Recorder Sat Jul 24, 2010, 08:00 AM EDT

MILLEDGEVILLE — The Baldwin County Commission voted to table a proposal Tuesday evening that aims to combat the county’s issues with unkempt personal property and yard debris by issuing fines to violators.

A proposal to revise the county’s code on property maintenance went into the discussion phase, but a vote on the code revision was tabled to allow commissioners and other county officials to further scrutinize the proposed changes and weigh concerns on whether it is too heavy-handed.

At issue is language in the proposal that allows county code enforcement to enter property to make inspections for enforcement at all reasonable times. When the property is occupied, the officer is to present proper identification and ask for entry, but if denied the code officer may use legal means to gain access to the property.

Another concern for commissioners is the degree to which fines will be levied — up to $250 a day and possible jail time for repeat violators.

Drive through areas of Baldwin County, and it’s evident why the county would move to take up such a measure. While the issue is not widespread throughout the county, there seem to be repeated offenders in some locations who leave their property in disrepair for extended periods of time or permanently. Property owners have rights within the boundary lines of the property they work and pay taxes to maintain, but so do their neighbors and other local residents who must view their property. Blight is not only a property owner’s issue; it is also an issue of economic development when the poor upkeep of others’ property impacts the potential for development all around it.

Nearly two years ago the county commission looked at establishing a set of uniform standards for maintenance and upkeep of businesses and property near the county’s gateway corridors. The proposed corridor gateway standards aimed to provide a uniform set of codes for future development along “gateway corridors” into the community including U.S. Highway 441 north and south, Log Cabin Road, Meriweather Road and parts of Ga. highways 22, 24 and 49. After several months of discussions among city and county officials, revisions and public input, the standards fell from development and never took solvent footing.

While the blight code revision isn’t exactly the same, its overarching goals seem to be — to improve upkeep and the outward appearance the Baldwin County community puts on for visitors, prospective businesses and the rest of the world.

County Solicitor General Maxine Blackwell said Tuesday night that the county needs a tougher stance in order to be able to effectively battle the presence of blight in the community, but asked the commission for more time so she can read the proposal and offer input. We ask that the commission seek her input, as well as additional input of local residents, and to take a look at ordinances in other surrounding communities. County officials must not allow the proposal to die down without ever taking up a vote on it, leaving it to fall by the wayside much like the gateway corridor standards proposal did several months back.

Everyone involved must keep in mind that the goal is not to violate the rights of particular property owners, but to benefit all local residents and potentially open the door for new economic development opportunities and further beautify the community. The county commission must stay on top of this issue and address it in some fashion as it impacts the image Baldwin County projects to visitors, neighbors and the rest of the world.

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