Nelson Code Enforcement Fuels Backlash

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The Nelson City Council Meeting turned heated this week as residents turned out in droves to show their discontent regarding the issuance of numerous citations.According to Councilman Jonathan Bishop, the citations are the result of certain code violations, which include improperly posted election signs, pools without fences, the visibility of junk vehicles and vegetation (the prohibition of grass on properties exceeding 12 inches in height).

“The codes exist,”

Bishop said,

“to promote the safety, cleanliness and general public well-being of the city. Additionally, codes exist to maintain property values.”

The backlash started early in the meeting with an emotional commentary by Council Woman and Mayor Pro Tem Martha Tipton.

During her executive report, Tipton said that she, like other residents, received a citation for a city code violation, which was for improper storage on her porch.

“The way I see it,”

she said,

“is what’s on my porch is my business. I pay my mortgage on my house. My taxes are paid. When you all start paying for my house you can dictate what I have on my porch.”

Tipton said she feels the city has other things more dangerous to take of than what someone has on his porch. She also noted this is the way people in Nelson have always lived.

“This is not Atlanta, Georgia; this is Nelson,”

she said. Additionally, Tipton noted that nothing on the citation indicated the length of time she had to correct the violation and that the process was not handled properly. Tipton’s statement was received with applause.

Councilman Jackie Jarrett said that he thought if the storage issues cause a danger to the community, like roaches, rats, or snakes, then the situation should be corrected. However, if personal storage practices do not cause a danger to the community, then no action is necessary.

“We’ve lived like this all of our lives,”

he said, referring to residents in the older part of town.

“So what you’re advocating,”

Bishop said,

“is that we don’t enforce the codes that we don’t like. Only certain codes are enforced. That means that… anybody’s who’s gotten a ticket here for any code violation can come back and say, ‘now, it’s (city code) selectively enforced based on which part of town you live in.”

He said that there is no new Nelson and old Nelson, but the city was one and, as such, the laws apply to the entire city. He went on to say that code violations negatively affect property values of other homes in the town.

“If you come to the City of Nelson and drive in, the first thing that you see are several houses with junk all over the porches, a house next door to city hall has 50 trash bags piled up outside,”

he said, emphasizing that he was trying to make the city look cleaner and better. He also reminded his fellow council members and those in the audience that all council members are responsible for code enforcement. For his part, Jarrett crossly urged the council to change the ordinances to ones that only pose a danger to the community. He then, in anger, called to de-annex the subdivisions, which he sees as “new Nelson” and source of the citations.

“De-annex all the subdivisions and we’ll go back to old Nelson, the way it was,”

he bellowed. Bishop said he would vote for the measure, but the motion died on the floor. More soberly, though, Bishop noted that the topic of de-annexation of subdivisions was never placed on the agenda, therefore the council could not vote on it.

During the public commentary portion of the meeting, one resident was also very upset that she received a citation for improper storage on her porch. She said she had cleaned her porch two days before she received the citation.

“If you’re going to say improper storage,”

she said,

“then you need to list, at least partially, what is improperly stored. There is nothing on my porch that is a danger to anybody.”

Another resident Thad Thacker was also upset about the citations. He accused the planning and zoning committee of trespassing on private property without permission while taking pictures of code violations. Thacker then called for Mr. Bishop’s resignation.

“People like you don’t need to be around here,”

he told Bishop.

Despite the complaints against Bishop, several residents defended the councilman. Mr. Bishop’s wife, Casey said that, upon hearing the comments directed toward her husband, her heart was broken and that she felt unwelcome. She went on to say that her husband was trying to follow the rules the city asked him to enforce when he was elected. Lamar Kelly said that the city was simply trying to enforce the ordinances already on the books. He described Nelson as having no unity and said the town was on “life-support.” Edith Portillo also defended Bishop, saying that he simply is doing the job he was elected to do by the people of Nelson.

“He was elected by you (the people of Nelson) by a large majority,”

she reminded the audience.

In the end, the council approved a motion to further discuss city ordinances at the July 9th workshop. Council members Duane Cronic, Jackie Jarrett, and Martha Tipton voted for the motion, while Jonathan Bishop opposed.

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