MACON, Ga. — Macon-Bibb County has demolished hundreds of homes in its fight against blight, but one homeowner said they've gone too far.
Eric Arnold said the county wrongfully demolished the home he was fixing up. Now, he's taking the county to court.
Wednesday morning, Arnold and his lawyers held a press conference where the house used to stand and announced he's suing Macon-Bibb. Arnold said he was fixing the property up for his family to live in one day, so he is devastated.
"When I think about it, I tear up because I knew what I had planned for this property," Arnold said.
Eric Arnold and his lawyer Christie Hebert said they want justice and answers from the county about why they are demolishing so many properties.
"Eric's lawsuit isn't about just one man's house. It's about protecting the constitutional rights of all property owners in Macon-Bibb County," Hebert said.
Arnold bought the property at 1151 Sunnydale Drive in February 2022. According to county tax records, Arnold bought the home for $15,000.
He said he found out the county planned to demolish his home when they placed a dumpster on his property. He tried talking with county officials to stop the demolition. They demolished his home in November 2023.
“It's like they just took it all away from me,” he said. “They took my dignity away from me. They took... like I wasn't even a person. Like 'You don't even exist, we just going to do what we want. This is our town.'”
Arnold and his lawyers said they want the county to reimburse them for the value of the house and for the renovation materials stored there.
Jerry Collins lives a few houses down. He said this isn't the first time he's seen the county demolish a home in his neighborhood that the owner was trying to rehab.
"There's a lot of folks who are doing their best to bring a lot of these old houses back to life and revitalize the neighborhood,” he said. “And I see good things but if this keeps up those good things may not happen and that's what really concerns me."
For several years, Macon-Bibb has been demolishing houses they call blight. They're usually vacant, unkept homes that the county calls a nuisance. Arnold said he paid his taxes on the property and got the permits he needed before the county tore down his house.
"I did everything I was supposed to do,” Arnold said. “I thought I was ok. I wasn't ok. They still knocked my house down."
According to county tax records, the owner filed an interior renovation permit with the intent to completely rehab the house on Nov. 14, 2023. According to Arnold, the home was demolished Nov. 15, 2023.
The county and code enforcement officials sent a statement regarding the issue.
“We have not yet been served any lawsuit regarding this property so cannot comment on the specifics,” Macon-Bibb County said. “However, we are aware of the demolition on Sunnyvale Drive. A letter designating it as a Nuisance Per Se and blighted and that it would be torn down if not repaired was provided several years ago, as well as notice posted on the property. The letter is not legally required for this process, but we provide it as a form of notice and allow the property owner the option to fix their property. The property was sold in February 2022 (after it was deemed blighted), and Code Enforcement provided the new homeowner nearly 20 months to pull any construction permits or fix it up. No permits were pulled, and we were not made aware of any improvements made before the demolition permit was pulled in August 2023. There were still several months between that and when demolition of the blighted structure occurred.”
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