MACON, Ga. — Macon-Bibb County's Code Enforcement Department wants some homeowners to clean up their yards.
That's why they've started a new initiative to remove a big amount of yard waste from properties they call 'hoarder properties.'
Code Enforcement Director JT Ricketson says those properties have 20 cubic yards of waste, or more, in the yard.
He says that's about 20 washing machines.
Ricketson and Assistant Code Enforcement Director Rodney Miller took 13WMAZ on a ride-along to show us what they look for in those properties.
"Some of these properties that I'll take you to, there might be 50, or 100, or 150 or more tires," Ricketson said.
That was the case in an east Macon yard which had hundreds of tires piled up. Ricketson said our cameras were allowed on the property because the house is abandoned.
"When you start hoarding junk or debris on the exterior of your house, out in your yard, it affects property values. It affects crime. It affects blight in your area," he said.
Ricketson pointed out code violations, from overgrown grass and weeds, to exposed wires and parts of the roof caving in.
"We only show up when something bad is going on with the property," he said.
Code Enforcement says they're working with the homeowner at this property. They say it may seem like these code violations only impact a single property, but they can also attract bugs, and other pests to the neighborhood.
If there's a complaint, code officers may come to your property and inspect it.
Then, they could hand you a notice of violation to be resolved in 30 days. If that doesn't happen, they could take you to court.
"We have a form, we put all the laws that are involved in hoarder type properties to abate it. That way, when we take our cases to court, we are fully prepared," Ricketson said.
He says if you do get a code violation, you don't necessarily need to address the whole issue in the 30 day period. They just ask that you're making some progress and can demonstrate that to your code enforcement officer.
