Rockmart looks to defeat problem of eviction debris
The ordinance amendment includes a fine of $1,000 per day.
Not much business was covered in the Rockmart City Council’s l atest meeting, but one big focus was in mind: figuring out the recurring problem of eviction debris.
Preventing personal property being left on the side of the street when tenants who can’t keep up with the rent are forced to leave a rental has been an ongoing issue in Rockmart. It is one the council seeks to fix as part of ongoing efforts by city officials fix blight and trash problems, or in this case items people want to keep but must leave behind..
The council decided the best way to address the problem was the form of an ordinance amendment.
“We’re experiencing more and more i ncidents where a property owner will evict a tenant for whatever reason,” city manager Jeff Ellis said previously. “We’ve had numerous occasions where, once the tenant pulls off, the neighborhood comes out and ransacks the debris.”
The massive collection of eviction debris has been over-occupying Rockmart’s public works division and the council proposed a solution in the form of an ordinance amendment during the Oct. 10 meeting.
So what the city decided was that if there are multiple properties within the corporate limits that constitute a nuisance, and added that “Personal property of any kind of nature, including but not limited to personal property of a tenant on the real property of a landlord following eviction or dispossessory proceedings, which has been abandoned, situated, or maintained so as to constitute an unsafe, unsanitary, or dangerous condition” to the ordinance.
This means abandoned, situated, unsafe, or unsanitary property left after an eviction by either a landlord or a tenant now falls under eviction de- bris and can be considered a nuisance.
“Leaving materials such as these will constitute a fine of $1,000 per day,” City Attorney Michael McRae mentioned.
The ordinance amendment must be advertised publicly and undergo a public hearing before being enacted into law.
“We’re looking at it going into law about Dec. 1,” McRae said.
Rockmart’s council meets on t he second Tuesday of each month in Rockmart’s city hall at 316 N. Piedmont Ave. at 7 p.m. The group discusses current events, hears delegations, and votes on old and new business items involving city business. Citizens are welcome to attend.