DeKalb Receives Authority to Clean Up Brannon Hill

DeKalb Receives Authority to Clean Up Brannon Hill

Owners have 60 days to remove blight before county steps in

DECATUR, GA. – Property owners of destroyed or fire-damaged buildings in the Brannon Hill Condominium complex have 60 days to demolish and clean up those structures, or DeKalb County can step in.

“This is a big step in the right direction,” said DeKalb Interim CEO Lee May. “This order puts Brannon Hill’s owners on notice to improve the property or DeKalb County has the authority to step in and take action. We have been working diligently for years to cleaning up Brannon Hill and other blighted communities.”

For more than a decade DeKalb has worked to address blight conditions in Brannon Hill Condominium, located at 1000 Old Hampton Dr., Clarkston.

These unsafe structures and mounting debris have created serious safety hazards, and some of the sites have been used as a dumping ground by privately-owned businesses.

Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams signed an order on Nov. 15 granting DeKalb County authorization to demolish and clean up specified buildings at Brannon Hills Condominium that were destroyed or seriously damaged by fire in the event that owners do not complete the work themselves. This order does not allow the county to clean up the entire property, only specified areas damaged or destroyed by fire.

At the end of the 60-day period, the properties will be inspected. If it is determined that the property owners have not complied with the judge’s order, DeKalb County is authorized to clean up the property and file a lien to recover the costs associated with its cleanup efforts.

The Superior Court order is the result of a July 2016 action filed by the county’s law department seeking to require the property owners to demolish and clean up specified burned or dilapidated structured.

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