City Attorney’s Office Targets Owners Of Blighted Properties

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Birmingham’s City Attorney’s Office is using civil court to hold landowners accountable for getting rid of crime and blight associated with nuisance issues. Those who fail to comply could face up to a $50,000 fine.

A release issued by the city Tuesday said earlier this month, city attorney Nicole King reached an agreement with landowners of the apartment complex at 700 Graymont Avenue in the Graymont neighborhood. The property has had numerous reports of seized drugs, seized weapons, gunshots and loitering. The landowners have agreed to pay a fine and clean up the property. This is the first of many properties the city will target, according to King.

Alabama has a law known as the Drug Nuisance Abatement Act, which was passed in 1996 to fight community problems such as increased crime, safety and health code violations and failing property values related to illegal drug use, and the sale and the manufacturing of illegal drugs. About 10 years ago, the city’s legal department took such cases to court under that law. However, the office didn’t have a task force.

King has revamped the program this year and created the Office of the City Attorney’s Drug and Nuisance Abatement Team, also known as OCA-DNAT, which works through the courts to hold landowners accountable for keeping their properties clean and getting rid of crime and blight associated with nuisance issues. Violators could face up to a $50,000 fine.

The task force includes city, state and federal officials such as Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr, Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith, federal public defender Glennon Threat and criminal defense attorney Tommy Spina.

The agreement states that the Graymont Avenue apartment complex owners must:

• Evict the tenants who have been identified for criminal and drug activity at the property
• Erect a fence around the property
• Post “No Loitering’’ and “No Trespassing’’ signs
• Install surveillance cameras
• Place a property manager on the premises and give the Office of the City Attorney the property owner’s contact info
• Install lighting on the side of the apartment complex in the alleyways and parking lot
• Keep the property clean

"This is just another way we are working to put people first in fighting crime," said Birmingham mayor Randall Woodfin. " I’m proud of what City Attorney King and her team have done, and I look forward to seeing even more develop from this forward-thinking approach."