To Address Blight DeKalb County Is Surveying Property Conditions

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — In an effort to eradicate blight and revitalize properties, the
DeKalb County Community Development Department is surveying unincorporated areas of the county, they announced Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the county began collecting data for the Comprehensive Property Conditions Survey, which officials say will provide a detailed inventory of property conditions within unincorporated DeKalb.

The survey was approved by the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 17, 2019.

“The survey is an additional tool to revitalize DeKalb,” said DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond in a news release. “The data collected from the survey will help to create an interactive database that will track and record blighted properties in the county.”

Data collection, including street-level photos, will be conducted by Cyclomedia Technologies Inc.
The survey will include the condition and characteristics of nearly 140,000 parcels within unincorporated DeKalb, including pictures and occupancy status.

It’s expected to be completed by this June, with the final survey results used to develop a long-term intervention strategy for blight removal.

Since January 2017, Thurmond has been pursuing county initiatives to address the blight. More than 420 properties have been demolished or abated.

The county has also focused on litter removal, illegal dumping, grass mowing, curb bumping, and removing debris, trash and grass from county streets, sidewalks, roadway drains, and rights of way through Operation Clean Sweep.