DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -There’s a chaos that DeKalb County says doesn’t get cleaned up in the night.
“I hope that someone would put an end to this chaos,” Conley Creek homeowner Juaney Lynn-Rigsby told the AP.
Lynn-Rigsby spoke to channel 2 Action News about the growing concern of industrial firms opening within their peaceful residential neighborhood.
“We’re talking about 50 or more 18-wheelers which will be coming down that avenue,” Lynn-Rigsby said.
Rigsby said to Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln that they’re dealing with three companies situated along the 400 block East Conley Road.
Two of them are industrial enterprises and the third one is an unlicensed junkyard. A spokesperson for the county said that an owner of the business was in jail twice for violations of code compliance and is currently under probation.
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The lot is located just behind a house that is located on East Conley Road.
“They actually shake their homes,” Lynn-Rigsby said.
Lincoln discovered that in the year 2020, the owners asked for the property to be changed from industrial to residential. The request was rejected.
The company admitted to numerous violations dating back to the year 2019 and was fined a number of thousands of dollars.
County officials also issued a cease and desist order for a property down the street. The county found numerous violations, and the owners were operating without having a license. They also admitted to guilt and were fined thousands.
A new company has hired several tractor-trailers.
The county spokesperson has said that code compliance and the planning commission as well as the court system are reviewing the properties.
The county stated that closing down a business isn’t a simple process, they are actively pursuing these properties.
The county has sent Channel 2 Action News a time-line of enforcement to each home:
4321 East Conley Road/4341 East Conley Road:
- Aug. 12 2019, 2019 12.08.2019: Aug. 12, 2019: DeKalb Department of Planning and Sustainability conducted an inspection of properties on August. 12 and issued seven citations for various violations, such as Zoning properties, property maintenance, open storage of debris and trash and having a business license that was not in place.
- Dec. 9 2019, 2019: The property owner was given an additional ticket for operating without a licence.
- Jan. 16 20th, 2020 The owner of the property was issued a 3rd violation for operating without a authorization.
- Feb. 18, 2020 At an appearance in court, owners of the property and their lawyer were able to agree to rezoning the property, however the application for rezoning was never filed.
- March 24 2020 Date of court suspended because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- June 5 2020A cease-and-desist sign-up notice has been posted on the property.
- Juni 2020 It was the time when operations stopped on this property.
- Sept. 20 the 20th of September, 2022: The building was inspected and found to be in violation. still evident.
- Nov. 11 November 11, 2020: The property’s owner accepted a plea deal and agreed to plead guilty to all citations , and was punished with a fine of $4,000.
- Feb. 2023 Feb. 2023: A Code Compliance officer was not allowed to visit the property to conduct an unplanned inspection. Code Compliance is working to arrange an on-site meeting with the owner of the property.
4388 East Conley Road
- Sept. 9th 2019, 2019 9th of September, 2019: 9th September, 2019: DeKalb Department of Planning and Sustainability conducted an inspection the facility and issued 13 warnings in connection with various violations, such as the zoning process the maintenance of property and open storage as well as operating with no license for business.
- Dec. 9 2019, 2019: The property owner was given an additional ticket for operating without a authorization.
- Jan. 16 the 16th of January, 2020 The owner of the property was issued a 3rd ticket for operating without a authorization.
- Feb. 18, 2020 In an appeals court hearing, homeowners and their lawyer decided to apply for rezoning of the property, however, the process for rezoning not completed.
- March 24 2020 The court date was canceled because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 5 June 2020A DeKalb County Planning Department representative handed out a cease-and-desist letter to the owner of the property.
- Nov. 9 2019, 2020: The owner of the property accepted a plea deal that was negotiated and agreed to plead at the plea of guilty for all violations and was fined $4,050.
- Feb. 2023 Code Compliance has contacted the owner of the property to set up an inspection for this property.
4481 East Conley Road
- Feb. 20 20, 2020 20th, 2020: The Code Compliance officer inspected the property and issued warning notices regarding various violations, including building accessory and open storage of debris and trash without a business license, Zoning and illegal dumps.
- Feb. 19 2021: The property’s owner was issued 10 warnings for code of ordinance violations. These included an accessory structure, storage open of debris and trash without a licensing for businesses, zoning and illegal disposal.
- May 18 2022 In the event of pleading guilt in the court, the owner of the property was placed on a 12-month probation and required to settle a penalty of $5,500. The owner of the property also agreed to a complete compliance plan which set out a timeframe for the corrective tasks to be completed.
- Sept. 7, 2022: Following an compliance strategy wasn’t adhered to the hearing to revoke probation was held. The owner of the property was imprisoned for 20 days following his probation was terminated.
- Dec. 12 2022: A second hearing on probation revocation was held. The owner of the property was imprisoned for 40 days following the time his probation was terminated.
The property recently changed ownership and DeKalb County Code Compliance has collected evidence of the current violations that have occurred on the property and is attempting to serve the new owner.
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