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After months of working with a couple who abandoned their property following the April 27, 2011, tornadoes, the Limestone County Commission may be forced to take legal action.
On Monday’s agenda is an item to initiate civil legal proceedings against David and Elizabeth Jones of 26880 Pepper Road for a violation of the county’s junk and debris ordinance.
Commission Chairman Stanley Menefee said the home was severely damaged by the April 27 tornado and it took a year to find the couple. He said once contact was made, they were given until the end of August to clean up the property, but said it hasn’t been touched.
“They took the (insurance) check and left, and it’s been a long process,” he said, adding there are three abandoned vehicles and an abandoned trailer on the property. “The house is torn up in the middle of everything that’s already built back. It appears we’ll have to take legal action to move on that, and it won’t be a short process either.”
Because Limestone County doesn’t have home rule, it doesn’t have the right to enter onto private property to address property violations. However, the junk and debris law gives the county’s health department the ability to cite offenders, which can then turn concerns over to the county attorney for possible legal action.
The junk and debris law was signed by former Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. in 1994 and sponsored by former Rep. Tommy Carter. It specifically addresses the “operation of junkyards and prohibit(s) certain accumulation and storage of junk, inoperable motor vehicles, and other litter within the unincorporated territory of the county … in the public interest and necessary to promote the public safety, health, welfare, convenience, and enjoyment of public travel.”
The law also gives the county power to pursue civil action or abate the property and assess all related costs to the property owner.
Donald Gee of the Limestone County Health Department said the junk and debris law requires abandoned vehicles to be shielded from public view. However, he said he found nothing at the Pepper Road property that promoted the presence of vermin or mosquitoes.
“The tall grass would be a problem in terms of mice, but we’ve got tall grass all over the county,” he said.
Menefee said though there are extensive procedures that must be followed to clean up the property, he wants to see East Limestone fully recovered from the tornado disaster.
“For the most part, people have really corrected things out there,” he said. “It’s time to move on.”
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