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City of Milton removes junk from property after years of complaints

MILTON, Ga. — Inoperable construction equipment, cars, boats and piles upon piles of dirt; that is just some of what Milton officials said they removed from a property last week after years of complaints from neighbors.
 
"It's a junk yard," neighbor Cathy Shea told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik of the Cogburn Road property.  "Driving down Cogburn Road, it was just a mess."
 
The home, which sits just west of Bethany Bend Road, is recognizable because of the large stone wall that fronts the property.
 
According to documents obtained by Petchenik, the city attorney had been sending notices to owners Justin Adams and Minnie Lou Green for several years, demanding they clean up the land. 
 
Last week, with a court order in hand, city workers went onto the land and removed hundreds of items themselves.
 
"It was a great feeling to know that it was being taken care of," Shea said of the cleanup.
 
Neighbor Charles Stanfield said he'd never seen a situation quite like it before.
 
"If anybody had any scrap or junk they wanted to get rid of, he'd take it and just pile it up in there," he said.
 
Stanfield said he was glad the city stepped in.
 
"But I don't know if it'll get worse again as time goes on or not," he said.
 
Petchenik attempted to reach Adams twice Monday at the home but nobody answered the door.  A phone number for the home was disconnected.
 
Documents show the city has fined Adams and Green $34,400 for violations, but so far, Adams has only paid about $4,300 of the fine.