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Henry Fleming's trailer at Seminole Village. Photo by M.J. Hammes.
THE NEW SPIFFY STANDARD
Who will be affected by proposed changes to the housing ordinance?
Henry O. Fleming lives on a lot in
Seminole Village, a mobile home park locat
ed off Newton Bridge Road. Some of the
grass around his home is about knee-length
and infested with fleas. A garden hose
snakes up the side of his trailer wall and
plugs into a spurting little sprinkler perched
atop the roof.
The shower isn’t for the enormous
cucumbers he grows outside in the plot of
earth against the wall of the trailer; the
show'er is to cool down his home — “to help
out w»th the A/C,” he explains.
The A/C needs a lot of help. Fleming has
tacked up sheets of clear plastic against the
screen on his windows to >:eep out heat in
the summer and hold heat in the winter.
“The man who owns this place here has
enough money to do what he wants to,”
Fleming says, gesturing to the other trailers
lining the dirt road. Some of the other trail
ers are suffering more noticeably, with torn
window screens flapping in the breeze and
caving stairways leading to front doors that
barely stay attached to the hinges. There is a
rectangular patch of siding that has been cut
out and messilv repatched on one trailer; the
inhabitant explains that it’s a leftover of a
boiler repair.
Though Fleming owns his own trailer, the
park itself — and many of the trailers on it —
are owned by Larry Roscoe Davis. According
to records at the county tax assessor’s
office. Davis ias a P.O. Box in Monroe, Ga.
Directory assistance informs callers that the
one Larry Davis in Monroe has an unpub
lished number.
Currently, local government can do little
to address the condition of property like
Davis'. If deemed “dangerous, unsafe, insani
tary or otherwise unfit for human habita
tion.” the government may order a property
owner to fix it up or demolish it.
This could all change if the Athens-Clarke
County Commission passes a proposed new
amendment to its housing code. The amend
ment would require that residential and
commercial structures meet more stringent
aesthetic and structural standards.
The amendment was originally scheduled
for consideration last Tuesday, September 1.
According to District 7 Commissioner Doc
Eldridge, the proposal will affect so many
Athenians that a vote has been pushed back
to the end of the year, with public forums to
be scheduled between now and then.
If it passes, the code could have a variety
of effects on a variety of residents. Low-
income residents and students with inatten
tive landlords could find their buildings
improved (though this may mean higher
rent), while low-income homeow’ners might
not be able to afford to bring their houses up
to code. Middle-class homeowners may find
that elements of their houses they thought
charming are actually illegal.
The Marshal’s Office has received well
over 1,000 cases of complaint since last
August, and the city government is “finding
we don’t have the proper rules to deal with
these cases." says Mayor Gwen O’Looney.
“We are trying to change the culture of the
community.”
‘ The process of demolition is very cum
bersome, laden with due process." says
District 4 Commissioner John Barrow, who is
an attorney. “We try to bridge that gap by
adopting a code that gives us the opportuni
ty to identify deteriorating conditions. We
want to address property maintenance
because our laws leave it to the enlightened
self-interest of the property owners, which
works in the vast number of cases."
Under the proposed amendment, once a
violation is identified, a notice would be sent
to the proper party, whether it be owner or
tenant, giving a certain amount of time to
correct ihe problem. If a given amount of
time passes without compliance from the
offender, the parties are taken io court.
Though the code applies to both residen
tial and commercial property, Barrow says,
“Business commercial property tends to gen
erate fewer complaints." However, some
commercial properties have deteriorated so
badly, such as the former Dalton Carpet
building on the corner of Oglethorpe and
Hawthorne, that plans are being made for
demolishing them.
The code requires that interior and exte
rior structural features be satisfactorily
maintained — sidewalks, driveways, plumb
ing, electricity, foundation and exterior
walls, staircases, handrails, porches, and
roofs. Insect screens are mandated for doors
and windows of food preparation areas.
Decorative features, such as living room
furniture in yards and front porches, are not
addressed by this code, although commis
sioner Barrow would like to focus on this
problem in the future.
>• see HOUSING on page 8
263 W, WASHINGTON ST • BY THE 40 WATT
21 & OVER ♦ OPEN DAILY AT 6 P.M. • 2271988
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SEPTEMBER 2, 1998 FLAGPOLE B