ATLANTA — Just as he shapes up his client's beard, Privado Grooming barbershop owner Sam Glickman hopes to shape up his community. The shape of the Atlanta skyline has certainly changed around the historic Vine City neighborhood, where his shop has stood for six years. However, Glickman has seen overgrown grass, boarded-up buildings and trash blight the community for a while.
"There's hope all around you because you see so much success," Glickman said. "But I have a house next door that looks the same way it did six years ago. We got rats, 12-15 inches next door, look like little squirrels. Thank God they don't run in here. You got ants literally the size of spiders. We have a lack of shelter here, so squatters find places to live at, and those places end up being abandoned homes like the one next door.”
Atlanta city leaders will consider a measure next Tuesday that would allow the city to use eminent domain to buy and take over blighted properties.
Those talks come after the city council approved a blight tax earlier this month. It charges owners deemed to be negligent a property tax rate 25 times more than the average rate. The tax goes into effect in January, though property owners have until the end of the year to make amends with any properties deemed to be neglected.
Glickman has a stake in shaping his city's future, but he said in the past, there has been trouble communicating between code enforcement and absentee landlords. There's rarely any follow-up, and the status quo continues to stand in the community, Glickman said. But he still believes in the city's potential.
"As long as there’s an opportunity, they will eat the fines, they’ll take all the complaints," Glickman said. "You can put a lien on the property all you want. They’re waiting on the bigger picture. For people like me, who have been intentional, have made the right investments and made all the right mistakes too, and learned from them. There's really no ceiling."