APD Code Enforcement Team praised for service

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At Tuesday’s meetingof Neighborhood Planning Unit-B, Peachtree Heights East representative PeggyMcCormick recognized the customer service work of the Atlanta PoliceDepartment’s Code Enforcement Team in resolving a difficult neighborhood issue involvingan absentee owner.  

According toMcCormick, in May 2012, adjacent neighbors filed a complaint with the Office ofCode Compliance for three violations:

• The house was open andvacant for almost 3 years,
• The house wassurrounded by junk, trash and debris, and
• A large dumpster hadbeen in the driveway for over a year.

Peggy McCormick

Over several years,these neighbors attempted to work with the absentee owner, communicating theirconcerns about the appearance of the property and potential risks to theirfamilies, McCormick relayed to BuckheadView. 

(The absentee owner of the house and its street address are purposely not published in this article.)
All efforts had beenunsuccessful and McCormick said the neighbors decided to move forward with aformal complaint, which was made.
After an initialinspection, research was necessary to locate the absentee owner.  The CodeEnforcement officer, William Kirkland, contacted the owner, explained theprocess and gave the owner two weeks to remove the dumpster and the junk, trashand debris on the exterior of the property. 
While the owner was reportedlyvery unhappy about this process, he complied within two weeks, meeting thedeadline set by Officer Kirkland.
McCormick said theneighborhood association worked closely with the neighbors in the complaint andresolution process.
McCormick offered herpraise of the Code Enforcement Team’s customer service at the end of a briefingto the NPU-B board of recent code enforcement activities by Officer StephenClair. She said she wanted all of the neighborhood representatives at the meetingto hear her neighborhood’s success story.
NPU-B chair SallySilver said that was the first time ever she could remember the city’s codeenforcement staff being praised for their customer service.