DEKALB CO., Ga. (WXIA) -- Residents of a DeKalb County community are hoping the county really is getting ready to clean up the very definition of neighborhood blight that's been plaguing them for years.
Fire destroyed a house in their neighborhood long ago, and the property is abandoned and overgrown.
Neighbors have complained to the county regularly.
Tuesday, the county's Code Enforcement Division confirmed that it is finally going to tear it all down and clean it all up. But not right away.
"Enough is enough," said Dennard Wright, who lives across the street from the eyesore, on Tuesday.
His patience, and his neighbors' patience, ran out long ago.
"It's just a haven for rats and snakes, and all kinds of dangerous things can happen over there."
The burned-out carcass of a house in the middle of a jungle of grass and weeds is on Walnut Ridge Court, off of S. Hairston Rd. near Stone Mountain.
"Definitely I'd like to see it demolished yesterday," Wright said.
Wright has been complaining to DeKalb County Code Enforcement to clean up the property since the house burned.
According to DeKalb County Fire Department records, the house burned on November 4th, 2010.
The first firefighters on the scene reported, "Flames were through the roof," burning from the first floor, through the second floor and up.
No one ever tried to fix the house.
Since then, ownership has changed hands, there was a foreclosure, and DeKalb County hasn't been able to track down the current owners.
"It's one of those things where you're paying your taxes," Wright said, "you hear those stories over and over, it's like, 'Okay, we're paying for what?'"
James Adams with DeKalb County's Code Enforcement Division said that because of cases like this one, the county has been streamlining the process so there will never be a similar delay.
And on May 13, Code Enforcement obtained a court order to tear it all down.
But when with the tear-down take place?
"You know, the thing about it with regards to court orders and compliance and everything on them," Adams said, "you know there can always be hiccups in the whole process. So I don't want to give the folks any false hope or false dealings and put a definite time table on it, but it will be demolished."
When asked if it will be demolished by the end of 2015, Adams said, "Yes. From what I've seen, yes, I can say yes, this year it should be taken care of."
Adams said the county is using federal funds to pay for the demolition, and it will take several months to complete the paperwork before the money can be spent.
The court order gives the county until April, 2016, to tear it all down.
Adams said the county will place a lien on the property to try to recover the federally-funded demolition costs.
Dennard Wright and his wife have "had it."
"Sounds like the same old song I heard last year, saying 'soon.'"
They've put their house up for sale.
Except they're having trouble finding buyers -- because of the blight across the street.
James Adams speaks passionately about his commitment to fight neighborhood blight. He said that because the county is streamlining the process, last year the county was able to demolish "nearly 20" condemned structures. Until recently, he said, the county was able to tear down maybe four or five a year. He expects the county will be able to tear down more than 20 this year, and more than that next year. He has 96 on his current list.
