ATLANTA — A family in northwest Atlanta said it feels neglected by the city after it allowed a property to go unmaintained for years.
The Gates family has lived at a home on Holly Street for decades. They said the area used to be booming, but the city has since torn down duplexes and apartments.
“Those apartments that were over there, duplexes that were here, they have been unmaintained for years and years. What you see is a product of that,” Freda Gates said.
Overgrown trees and bushes from an abandoned property have started to creep onto the Gates' property.
“It is like a sense of gloom,” Gates said.
She said her grandmother, who recently passed away, brought the issue to the city’s attention years ago. Gates said she and her mother, who now owns the property, have contacted the city as well, but nothing has been done.
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“It was kind of like a slap in the face. She had to complain and nothing was done. Two days after she was in the ground, we get a letter from code enforcement,” Gates said.
The letter said the family must clean up the property by Thursday or face a fine.
“What we agreed to do is clean what grew from their land over our fence. We don’t want to do it, but we are going to have to do it because we don’t want to face that fine,” Gates said.
She said the blame should fall on the city.
“If they had attended to this property, none of this would have grown up and it wouldn’t look like this,” she said.
Channel 2's Lauren Pozen contacted the City of Atlanta to ask about the overgrown abandoned property, but her calls were not returned.
Cox Media Group
