People want businesses gone they say are causing headaches in their quiet neighborhood

“We’re talking about 18-wheelers, 50 or more that will come down that street,” Lynn-Rigsby said.

Rigsby told Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln that they’re dealing with three businesses located along the 4000 block of East Conley Road.

Two are industrial businesses and the third is an illegal junkyard. A county spokesperson said the owner of the junkyard has been sent to jail twice for code compliance violations and is currently on probation.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Parts of north Georgia could see winter weather this weekend. Here’s what we know
• Deputies find massive amounts of cocaine, fentanyl, meth and more in north Ga. home
• Ga. daycare owner arrested for the second time in 2 weeks on 17 child abuse charges

The lot sits directly behind a home on East Conley Road.

“They literally shake their houses,” Lynn-Rigsby said.

Lincoln found in 2020, the owners requested for the lot to be rezoned from residential to industrial. That request was denied.

The company pleaded guilty to several violations going back to 2019 and was fined several thousand dollars.

The county also issued a cease-and-desist order at a lot down the street. They found multiple violations and the owners operated without a license. They also pled guilty and fined thousands.

Residents say a new company has brought in several tractor-trailers.

A spokesperson for the county says code compliance, the planning commission, and the courts are actively looking at the properties.

The county said while shutting down a business isn’t a quick process they are actively going after these properties.

The county sent Channel 2 Action News a timeline of enforcement for each property:

4321 East Conley Road/4341 East Conley Road:

• Aug. 12, 2019: The DeKalb Department of Planning and Sustainability inspected properties on Aug. 12, 2019, and seven citations were issued for various violations, including zoning, property maintenance, open storage of trash and debris, and operating without a business license.
• Dec. 9, 2019: The property owner was issued a second citation for operating without license.
• Jan. 16, 2020: The property owner was issued a third citation for operating without license.
• Feb. 18, 2020: During a court hearing, the property owners and their attorney agreed to seek rezoning the property, but the rezoning application was never completed.
• March 24, 2020: Court date suspended due to onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• June 5, 2020: A cease-and-desist notice was posted at the property.
• June 2020: The business ceased operations on the property.
• Sept. 20, 2022: The property was inspected and violations were still present.
• Nov. 11, 2020: The property owner accepted a negotiated plea offer and plead guilty to all citations and was fined $4,000.
• Feb. 2023: A Code Compliance officer was not allowed on the property for an impromptu inspection. Code Compliance is working to schedule an onsite meeting the property owner.

4388 East Conley Road

• Sept. 9, 2019: The DeKalb Department of Planning and Sustainability inspected and issued 13 citations for various violations, including zoning, property maintenance, open storage, and operating without a business license.
• Dec. 9, 2019: The property owner was issued a second citation for operating without license.
• Jan. 16, 2020: The property owner was issued a third citation for operating without license.
• Feb. 18, 2020: During a court hearing, the property owners and their attorney agreed to seek rezoning the property, but the rezoning process was never completed.
• March 24, 2020: Court date suspended due to onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• June 5, 2020: A DeKalb County Planning Department representative delivered a cease-and-desist letter to the property owner.
• Nov. 9, 2020: The property owner accepted a negotiated plea offer, plead guilty to all citations, and was fined $4,050.
• Feb. 2023: Code Compliance has contacted the property owner to schedule an inspection of this property.

4481 East Conley Road

• Feb. 20, 2020: A Code Compliance officer inspected the property and issued warning notices for various violations, including accessory building, open storage of trash and debris, no business license, zoning, and illegal dumping.
• Feb. 19, 2021: The property owner, was served with 10 citations for code ordinance violations, including accessory building, open storage of trash and debris, no business license, zoning, and illegal dumping.
• May 18, 2022: After pleading guilty in court, the property owner was placed on 12 months’ probation and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000. The property owner also agreed to a comprehensive compliance plan which established a timeline for corrective work to be completed.
• Sept. 7, 2022: After the compliance plan was not followed, a probation revocation hearing was held. The property owner was jailed for 20 days after his probation was revoked.
• Dec. 12, 2022: A second probation revocation hearing was held. The property owner was jailed for 40 days after his probation was revoked.

The property has recently changed hands and DeKalb County Code Compliance has gathered evidence of the existing violations on the site and is seeking to personally serve the new owner of record.

IN OTHER NEWS: