E

The Legislative Committee is taking steps to develop a “nuisance law” geared to get owners to clean up their unkempt property.

Mayor Chris Guess addressed the committee on March 7 about concerns from residents who say they have been infringed upon by neighboring landowners who have let their property deteriorate into a dilapidated condition.

He said some property owners have neglected yard work and have junk and other debris spread about. He added that worn out tires are also an issue because there’s a cost associated with their disposal, and for that reason, some residents do not get rid of them.

“If we don’t take a stand and adopt some things to address this, it’s going to take over the entire county, but we need to go about it in the right way,” Guess said.

He said that the county would have to develop “nuisance codes” that would address the concerns expressed by residents who have issues with unkempt neighboring property.

Guess referred to Putnam County and the city of Millington in Shelby County which have adopted nuisance laws to control the problem in their jurisdictions, and Franklin County has templates to follow in drafting its own laws to handle such situations.

“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Guess told the committee which he urged to move soon on addressing the issue. “We need to do it in two months. I’m not talking about six months.”

He said that after Franklin County makes its comparisons to those other government bodies, it can quickly adopt its own nuisance law.

“I suggest we be ready to move,” he said, referring to an expedited schedule.

The committee agreed to review the issue further in April after receiving additional input from other cities and counties that have faced the same situation. Plans are to have the committee forward a resolution shortly thereafter to the County Commission for final approval.

The committee discussed how the new nuisance codes would be enforced, including potentially hiring a special codes enforcement officer, having a deputy handle the duties or having a specially designated person working through the County Mayor’s Office.

Commissioner Tyler Bauer, who serves on the committee, said the cost of the officer would probably take time to be amortized through the fines enforced on violators. He added that it could take two to three years before the county reaches a break-even point through the process.

Bauer said the county needs the nuisance codes because unkempt property drives down neighboring land values.

Guess said the codes have got to have some form of a strict penalty to be effective.

“It’s got to have some teeth in it or they won’t follow it,” he said.

The County Commission was approached in January 2022 by a group of Oak Grove/Alto residents who asked the commission to change statutes so that more control can be administered to reduce problems they associate with trailer parks in their community.

Residents Kevin Cox and Tom Whiteaker told the commission that tighter regulations are needed because a move had been made to develop a multi-family housing area in the 1500 block of Oak Grove Road to accommodate five or six trailers.

The residents said the development would increase traffic concerns, reduce property values, increase the crime rate in a quiet neighborhood and could deter from the area’s aesthetic appearance with an unregulated trailer park becoming run down like others in the area have become.

The commission discussed what could be done to remedy the problem, including changing the planning and zoning laws so that they more clearly define how trailers can be regulated.

Cox said trailers in the area have not been maintained, lots have become overgrown with vegetation, and the housing is substandard.

Whiteaker referred to a $400,000 home in the neighborhood that a family may be forced to sell at a huge loss to get away from the problems associated with the nearby trailers.

Whiteaker presented the commission with a statistical list he said shows that the crime rate linked to the trailers is at a high level, and their presence poses a safety threat.

“I’m a senior citizen, and I’m a taxpayer,” he said. “Something’s got to give. This has got to be cleaned up.”

Then-Commissioner Eddie Clark suggested at the time that the county could consider a “nuisance” law, which would be handled through the Legislative Committee, to address the issues related to illegal activity.