August 28, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
Proponents of new regulations to keep landowners in DeKalb County from creating health and safety concerns for their neighbors suffered a setback Monday night as the county commission voted 8-6 to remove the issue from the agenda. Proposed standards may be revised or revisited by the commission in a later workshop or perhaps by the government services committee from where the proposals originated, or they may not resurface at all in the foreseeable future.
(VIEW THE ACTUAL RESOLUTION AT LINK BELOW)
During the regular monthly meeting Monday night, the commission was expected to consider passage of a resolution adopting the State’s “County Powers Act” which authorizes a county to enact a resolution establishing, in this case, regulatory standards regarding health and safety conditions of residential and non-residential properties within the confines of DeKalb County outside the boundaries of the municipalities which already have codes and ordinances. In order to establish the health and safety regulations, the commission must first adopt a County Powers Act resolution.
The Government Services Committee of the County Commission met last Tuesday night and voted to recommend passage of both resolutions to the full commission. A two thirds vote of the 14-member commission was required had the commission voted to pass either or both resolutions.
The commissioners were clearly divided on whether the county should move forward on this controversial issue and a large public gathering attended Monday night’s meeting with differing views and a keen interest in how the commission would act.
The concept of the resolutions was to primarily address neighbor complaints of dangerous and or unsanitary conditions on private properties next to them caused by overgrown vegetation, accumulation of debris, trash, litter, and garbage, or the presence of vacant dilapidated buildings or structures.
Had both resolutions been approved, a five-member hearing board with staggered terms (consisting of county commissioners) would have been established as well as an enforcement officer position, all appointed by the county mayor with the concurrence of the full commission. DeKalb County’s Safety Officer, which is a paid position and already established, would most likely have been assigned to take on this new Enforcement Officer responsibility along with his regular duties. When a resident filed a complaint, the enforcement officer would have investigated and if he found a violation, he would have been required to notify the landowner in person or by certified mail. The property owner would then have had 30 days to remedy the issue or request a hearing before the hearing board which would have had to meet and act within 30 days. If the board were to uphold the enforcement officer’s findings, the violator would have been fined $50 per day per occurrence. Violators could also have been taken to General Sessions Court if they didn’t comply.
The hearing board would also have had the authority to recruit or coordinate efforts of community organizations, neighbors, religious institutions, and or other agencies to provide assistance to persons not financially or physically able to comply on their own with the requirements of these regulations.
At the beginning of each monthly meeting, one of the commission’s first actions is to adopt the agenda for the night and then proceed to discuss and take action on each issue on the agenda. Normally the agenda is approved without dissent but not this time.
Commissioner Myron Rhody, who is opposed to these proposed regulations, made a motion Monday night to remove from the agenda consideration of both the “County Powers Act” resolution and the resolution governing the “Health and Safety” standards for residential and non-residential properties. Rhody’s thinking was that by taking the issue off the agenda, it would effectively kill it. “I just want to remove it and be done with it,” said Rhody. Others insisted that the issue might still be resurrected at some later meeting.
Commissioner Tom Chandler, who is also opposed to establishing these regulations, initially offered a second to Rhody’s motion but later withdrew his second, preferring instead to let the resolutions come to the floor for a vote where they were apparently doomed to fail without the needed two thirds support of the full commission for passage. “I would rather be part of a commission that said no to this than be part of a commission that kicks it down the road or part of a commission that’s party to enacting this and unleashing the enforcement,” said Chandler. That was the view of several others on the commission, like Tim Reynolds and Glynn Merriman who were among the six who voted against Rhody’s motion after it ultimately received a second from Commissioner Tony (Cully) Culwell.
“Do we really want to kick this can down the road and push it back to a committee again because we will be back in the same boat again later. We all know that. We are just wasting time kicking it back to a committee,” said Commissioner Reynolds who added “After raising taxes on folks this year, I have a real problem with us potentially telling them what they can and can’t do and I am not going to,” he said.
Commissioner Chandler, who recently returned from a trip, said constituents have been very vocal with him about their feelings on this issue.
“My phone has been going crazy, text messages, emails, not a single one supports either one of these resolutions,” said Chandler. “The (public) input I have gotten is not only “no” but a hard “no” and that’s not the “H” word they used. Not a single person wants to see the landscaping and property beautification (enforcement officer) coming around telling them what they can and cannot put in their front yard. We should kill this and put this to bed. If this were to pass in my opinion this would cause a fury of controversy like this county has not seen in a long time. I’m prepared to kill this, “said Commissioner Chandler.
Commissioner Larry Green, a supporter of the regulations, said a lot of misinformation has spread throughout the community in recent days about the proposed health and safety standards and many who do understand them are in favor.
“We had a group of people here Thursday night (during a county commission workshop) who were overwhelmingly in favor of this. The phone calls I got Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were all in favor of it. The phone calls I got today (Monday) were totally negative. I think a lot of misinformation has been put out there about it. Tom (Chandler) just referred to some misinformation about it. It is not about landscaping. Its not about beautification. It’s about health and safety. So let’s just refer it back to committee and clean up some things some of you don’t agree with,” said Commissioner Green.
“I don’t think there is any misinformation in what I said,” Chandler replied. “I looked at the second resolution and its pretty clear the enforcement officer with his five-person committee can determine what you can and cannot have in your front yard. That is the interpretation people have of this and that is why they are opposed to it,” Chandler continued.
Commissioner Tony Luna, another supporter of the standards, said the public view of this proposal is not all negative.
“I have had the opposite of what Tom has had,” said Luna. “I have had multiple calls and emails from people who are for this. I do think it needs to be fine-tuned but I think it’s a good idea that needs to be worked on,” he added.
Commissioner Justin Adcock is vehemently opposed to the standards and said he believes outsiders moving into DeKalb County around the lake are the ones making the strongest push for this.
“From the phone calls I have got, its the people who live on the lake in my district who want it. The farmers don’t want it. Its mainly people around the lake. I even had people from Holmes Creek calling me. Its everybody around the lake that has a problem with this. They want it cleaned up. They need to go back to Nashville,” said Commissioner Adcock.
Commissioner Luna said that he has not had the same public response as Commissioner Adcock.
“The majority of the people who called me (who support this) do not live on the lake. They live close to the lake but live here full time,” said Luna.
Commissioner Chandler said he believes the County Powers Act and the health and safety standards that follow could cause problems for landowners, not only now, but also in the future should later county commissions add to the regulations.
“This opens a Pandora’s Box”, said Commissioner Chandler. “That box is closed at the moment. If we open that box now we’re going to be the ones tagged as having opened it for other commissions later. I know people came to this commission recently who had issues with a neighbor that had a bunch of trash in their yard. I sympathize with those people and I would like to be able to prevent that but it appears we cannot do that without opening this Pandora’s Box and once you do, it also opens it up to not just stopping trash but possibly from stopping me from parking my old blue tractor in my front yard as a symbol of the loved one I’ve lost,” said Chandler.
County Mayor Matt Adcock reminded the commissioners that while county commissions, now or later could make changes by either adding to or removing regulations outlined in the proposed health and safety resolution, it could not change the County Powers Act because it was enacted by the Tennessee Legislature for all counties who wish to adopt it.
Commissioner Greg Matthews asked if the issue could be put before the voters to let them decide in the form of a referendum next year during the elections.
“I don’t think we can do that,” answered County Mayor Adcock.
“So that decision has to be made by 14 people (county commission) for everyone in the county,” asked Commissioner Matthews.
“I think it would be fine for our commission to talk about this again at our next workshop. That’s what our workshops are for to discuss what we want to do with certain topics and whether they get on the agenda or not at the formal meetings,” added County Mayor Adcock.