3 months ago
Warner Robins Code Enforcement officers say they're turning their attention to a neighborhood near the gates of Robins Air Force Base.
Bargain Road sits just off Highway 247, but its appearance lies in stark contrast to the polished look of the base.
Carol Rowan began renting her Bargain Road home 17 years ago. She said, "It was nice, very nice."
She said as owners moved out and more renters moved in, her surroundings changed. She said, "They don't care about it. They're not prideful or their property."
Now, vacant lots sit covered in debris. Trash fills road side ditches, and abandoned homes attract crime and create eyesores. Rowan said, "They call us the ghetto. They say we live in the hood. I don't like that. I don't like the association that we live in the hood."
Rowan's Bargain Road home is across the street from Robins Air Force Base. You can see hangars on the base from her front yard. Between the base and her house, there is a rotting, abandoned trailer park that's been that way for at least the past five years.
It appears fire gutted the trailers, but Rowan says its appearance is the result of scavengers. She said people tore off the trailers' siding to get money for the metal and items left inside.
Code Enforcement officer Captain Bill Capps says the city tried to condemn the property two years ago, but didn't follow through with the legal process.
They started the case again Monday, and turned over the documents to the city attorney. Capps said the attorney will pursue getting a condemnation order from a judge.
Captain Capps said, "We'll make sure this place is cleaned-up. We'll do whatever it takes to get the property owner involved, and make sure he's responsible for taking care of it."
He expects that to happen within two months, but says after they finish their job the community needs to get to work. Capps said, "It's a partnership. There's just no way one entity can take care of this. It's going to take code enforcement, the police department and the community."
Rowan and her neighbors agree, taking initiate to clean-up the lots of another trailer park on Bargain Road. Rowan said, "This is not really the hood if people would get out here and be prideful."
Captain Capps says a judge will have to issue a condemnation order for the city to begin cleaning up the abandoned trailer park property.
He says they worked 43 cases in the area last year and plan to refocus their efforts on violations in the area, after Rowan brought her concerns to the city's attention.
