Clayton Co. to begin cleanup of abandoned mobile home park

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Cleanup at a Clayton County mobile home park is scheduled to begin after neighbors said they dealt with the eyesore and health hazard for more than a year.

People living at the Tara Mobile Home Park in Jonesboro said broken televisions, furniture and abandoned homes have been a problem at neighboring Maria Mobile Homes, and it's been difficult to get the county to do anything about the mess.

"A mess. It's a mess," said Brenda Kesloe.

Kesloe has lived at the mobile home park for 32 years and told Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri she had never seen a mess this bad.

Neighbors said many of the people who had lived at Maria Mobile Homes were forced to move out last year when the property's water was shut off due to unpaid bills. Since that time, neighbors said the abandoned homes have served as a dumping ground and attracted squatters.

Property management struggled to get code enforcement to clean up the mess next door.

Viteri showed County Commissioner Eldrin Bell video of the mess.

"We're going to get it cleaned up and find the appropriate owners and charge them for cleaning it up", Bell promised.

Bell told Viteri the property has been in an abatement process with the county since April 2011, but that should not have prevented clean-up from starting.

"I want to apologize to those people out there for having to put up with it this long. And I want to reassure them I will get something done about it," Bell said.

Bell reached out the chief of police and corrections department about getting workers out to the property to begin clearing out the mess.

WSBTV