It has taken years for the Augusta Commission to finally commit to cleaning up the dumpster fires that are more popularly known as the Bon Air and Richmond Summit apartment complexes.
Now, seemingly armed with the six votes necessary to suspend the business licenses held by the owners of the properties, Redwood Housing, the commission is facing a tough dilemma: They now have to prove the troubled complexes are a public nuisance at worst, or, at best, present a danger to the tenants.
Late last week, Redwood Housing asked for a continuance, which was granted. Yet, it seems the continuance was needed for both sides as the city has feeble documentation of the problems that have plagued the properties for years.
One might think such a task would be relatively easy as the tenants have complained for years about problems with plumbing, heating and air and vermin infestations.
Nearby residents have the call logs from 911 proving the sheer bulk of calls made in reference to “gunshots heard” in the area.
The complexes, one on Walton Way in Summerville and the other on Broad Street downtown, both are historic former hotels converted into project-based Section 8 housing. Occupancy is supposed to be limited to those over age 62 or the disabled; yet, people of all ages are seen coming to or from the properties or loitering outside, day and night.
Be assured, these folks are not visiting to provide a welfare check on grandma. They are up to no good.
Proving the obvious, however, becomes problematic when paper documentation is what wins the day in an official hearing where a license is threatened with revocation and the future living arrangements for hundreds of low-income residents hangs in the balance.
The problem for commissioners can be traced back to October 2022, when then-Director of Planning and Zoning Carla Delaney, called for a “reset” of her department.
In the wake of a code inspector, Charles “Chip” Case, being killed while on the job, Delaney took away the Kevlar vests and announced that inspectors would only be allowed to visit certain properties with a police escort, an impossibility during the Richard Roundtree era, when senior officers were having to pull jail duty due to staffing issues.
Residents say they have complained to the city’s 311 service only to be given a “ticket number” in reference to a file that seemingly never makes it to code enforcement.
Under Delaney’s “kinder and gentler” regime, instead of citations, building owners were to be given vouchers to rent equipment needed to maintain their properties.
Therefore, according to what thin documentation has been released publicly, when the hearing is finally held on Aug. 5, code enforcement will only have a handful of minor complaints to present as evidence.
Attorneys for Redwood Housing will be able to point to the scant evidence as proof that the owners are being unfairly scrutinized and will likely toss out the multitude of 911 calls as being the result of a conspiracy by rich, privileged old White people acting as NIMBYs (Not-In-My-Backyard) who detest having poor people in their midst.
This is what happens when malaise is allowed to spread through the government like kudzu. Now that commissioners are trying to do right by the tenants and their neighbors, they risk inviting a lawsuit from Redwood Housing over malicious prosecution.
The mayor and commission need to hire a new Planning and Zoning director who is going to enforce the ordinances on the books and document each step along the way, so that the next time the issue results in a public hearing, the department has evidence to present.
