Bond Denied to 3 Arson Suspects

Fran Armstrong May 31, 2012 at 03:03 pm

Having been raised in a large metro city I can tell you that abandoned buildings pose a huge problem. They are havens for drugs, prostitution and other illegal activities. If the Old Mill was purchased in 2011 by the county of Douglasville with the intention of being torn down to build a park, it should have been torn down immediately and not left abandoned for almost a year. I am not condoning the actions of these four people, they should receive the punishment warranted by the crime. I do believe, however, that the county has to assume some responsibility for not having the foresight to realize this abandoned building had the potential to be a problem. I would like to see more proactive then reactive actions from those who are in authority in the county regarding this incident and others.

Bruce May 31, 2012 at 03:16 pm

Well said, Fran. You are entirely right. The city is responsible.
Let's not forget that an ordinary citizen faces fines, imprisonment, probabtion and seizure of property if the county or city doesn't like the way your property looks. Not that long ago Douglasville Police Chief Womack was brought in by the city council to use his armed police officers for code enforcement. why didn't they serve the mayor and city council and city manager with a citation and take them into court, just like they do regular citizens?

Lisa Cooper June 1, 2012 at 09:26 pm

If the City had clear title then what you propose would be correct regarding how the City should have handled the building, however, they do not have clear title yet. They foreclosed last September. It has been explained to me by City officials the property would be in a state of limbo for a year. During that year the owner, Inman Park Properties could come back into the picture pay the taxes and take possession of the property. If the City had done any improvements to the property during that time they would not be reimbursed and could not force the actual owner to do so. So.....it sat, and it still sits until the City has clear title. I have researched this building and I am well familiar with the way the property has been used and abused by all parties concerned, but once the city foreclosed in September, 2011 their hands were tied for 12 months.

Julie Camp June 2, 2012 at 03:30 pm

Lisa, don't forget, the funds to tear down the building would have to be found (collected) too. That would take some time. It's not cheap to tear down a building that size. Some parties had looked into purchasing the property years ago and it was in the millions to properly dispose of the materials.

Pete Rattigan June 2, 2012 at 04:03 pm

Douglasville is a City not a county the county you live in is Douglas!
I normally would not care about the confusion but when throwing around blame or accusations you should know who you are talking about.And it is not just you others have made the same mistake.

Bruce June 2, 2012 at 08:24 pm

Ms. Camp, ordiniary people, property owners have to pay to keep up their properties. In addition, we must pay taxes, part of which goes for maintenance of government properties.
I suggest anyone who can find the time go to code enforcement court. Listen to the fines that are levied on citizens if the city or county doesn't like the way our properties are maintained. Would it not be better, that instead of being hit with fines, imprisonment and seizure of personal property, that people were allowed to use that money to maintain their own properties? I suggest this: Government officials can go with half pay for a while and cut their insurance and retirement benefits until government properties have been brought up to code.

Bruce June 2, 2012 at 08:31 pm

You know, this is simple.
All I'm saying is that there are two sets of law. There is one set of law for government officials and another set of laws for us, the ordinary people.

Bruce June 2, 2012 at 08:57 pm

If the Douglasville did not have clear title, so much the better.
Then code enforcement could throw the book at the owners, because somebody owns the property. The owners can be held responsible in a court of law. Period.