Property on Southwood Road that needs attention will soon get it.
The city of Jackson hired Resurrection Lawn Care Service to cut the grass and weeds, remove trash and debris and remedy conditions that constitute a menace to public health, safety and welfare at 2135 Southwood Road in Jackson.
The Jackson City Council approved an order on Aug. 2 that authorized Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba to execute the contract with the lawn service. The council approved the order for the cleanup based on the city’s code enforcement procedures.
Colton Woodward and his wife, Victoria Casher, and their two daughters, live next door to the house, which is owned by Rita R. Santangelo. “I’m glad they’re doing something,” said Woodward, who works as an Aflac benefits representative. “I think the whole neighborhood will be happy to see something is being done.”
Woodward said believes no one currently lives at 2135 Southwood Road.
The city relies upon four stages of code enforcement that a property may proceed through while a code officer is working to resolve an identified issue, according to Chloe Dotson, deputy director of planning, development and code services for the city of Jackson.
The first level of compliance is voluntary and it has a timeline of 15 to 90 days; second level, court-ordered compliance with a timeline of 30-60 days; third level, referral, which has an undetermined timeline while a code enforcement officer works to match an owner with financial or physical hardships with partner resources; and fourth level, city-performed cleanup, which has a timeline of 60-90 days after cleanup is funded.
Not all cases will proceed through each stage, Dotson said. A code enforcement officer determines the path based on the circumstances of the property.
Code enforcement begins when someone reports a complaint or a staff member identifies issue, she said. A case is assigned to an officer who makes an initial inspection within seven days.
“A case must be started, and notices sent out,” Dotson said. “If we cannot get the owner to mitigate or show up for court, depending upon the prioritization of the case, we will proceed with administrative court and then the city council. Then we must bid out or enter into an agreement via contract with a service provider to bring the property back into compliance,” she said.
Cases with abandoned ownerships or complicated titles end up at the fourth level, which requires city-performed cleanup after being funded. Cases meeting blight elimination are prioritized, she said.
Anyone interested in the status of a property can visit jacksonms.viewpointc-loud.com and use the search function to check the progress by using a case number, address, or parcel number. The information is made available in real time.
All vacant property in the city limits is required to be registered with the city of Jackson.
