MACON, Ga. — Macon-Bibb County is taking a step forward in the fight against blight. Many people living in the county say it's one of their top concerns. Friday, Mayor Lester Miller announced a new plan aimed at tackling the problem.
The plan Mayor Lester Miller announced is specifically targeting burned, blighted structures which are declared a nuisance under county law.
"We must do this one house at a time, one street at a time," Miller said.
Code enforcement has started with a list of 849 addresses where the fire department has received structure fire calls. They are still working through that list but plan to notify 64 owners to remove their burned, blighted structures.
"And if and when they don't, we will act accordingly," Miller said.
Miller says their plan to bust blight is data-driven. The county showed maps of where structure fires have been between 2016 and 2020 and where those 64 burned and blighted structures are.
"Houston Avenue, the Triple Hill area, and all up Antioch Road," Miller said pointing at the map of the areas with burned, blighted buildings. "This is where the data has taken us and this where we are going to begin."
Miller says the county will send out the letters to those 64 owners Monday, and they will have 10 days to respond.
"The mayor can make this decision on their own. Based on the law, we're not required to send a 10 day notice out. We can begin to tear down these houses immediately if he chose to. However, we believe it’s only fair to send out proper notification to these owners to give them the opportunities to remedy the situation on their own before we begin this process," Miller said.
If owners do not take action, the county says they will start the legal process, working toward demolishing the structures, but first, Macon-Bibb will have to assess each for asbestos. Depending on those results, Miller says they'll move forward with tearing down the structures, and then charging the owners with liens on those properties.
Miller added that he hopes the county can take action on the first 64 houses by May-- whether it is the owners taking down the structure, or if the owners do not respond, the county demolishing the building.
As for preventing these burned structures from turning into blight, Miller says the Fire Department will now notify code enforcement when there is a structure fire call.
The mayor says this plan will not cost taxpayers more. They'll use money that's already in the budget, as well as from the blight remediation funds and money from the tax commissioner's subsequent tax sale.