City Condemns South Pond St. Apartment Complex

Toccoa Officials are aggressively working to improve the public health and safety of South Pond Street.

Cambridge Apartments were inspected on August 29, 2017 and found to be unsafe, unsanitary and not in compliance with the basic minimum housing standards as required by the State of Georgia and City of Toccoa, according to press release issued by the City Tuesday.

The report said multiple violations were found in every apartment.

A file on each room was established containing inspection reports showing deficiencies, along with photos documenting the violations.

“On behalf of the City Commission, I would like to thank the City Staff for their work relating to the inspections of these facilities,” Toccoa City Mayor Jeanette Jamieson said Tuesday. “Despite the filthy and unsafe conditions, our dedicated city employees worked diligently to make sure all public safety violations were recorded. Its due to their hard work, we are able to rid our community of these blighted locations.”

Toccoa Police Chief Tim Jarrell said the inspections came after several of his officers found conditions in the some of the units and the building in general they believed to be unsafe.

“Over the past few years, my officers have responded to a number of calls there for service,” Jarrell said. “While officers have been at that location, they witnessed some things that were not within the Housing Code. They also witnessed some things that required assistance from the Department of Family and Childrens’ Services and also the Health Department.”

Jarrell said he turned his findings over to the City Manger’s office.

On Tuesday, City Manager Billy Morse issued a press release announcing the apartment complex would be closed.

“Much like we did with the motels, we did an inspection of the facility and determined that were in fact code violations and the building was determined to be unfit for human habitation and condemned,” Morse said.

Morse said the lease holder has agreed to close the apartment complex by September 30th.

Cambridge Apartments is made up of mainly studio apartments.

Once a church, it has operated for over ten years as an apartment complex after the church sold the building to an investment group in Atlanta.

“Condemning the Cambridge Apartments is a result of the detailed inspection of the facility. This is part of our continued efforts to make sure that all housing accommodations are safe and meet operating standards that are in compliance with public health rules,” explained City Commissioner Gail Fry.

WNEG News obtained a copy of the inspection report and found violations, such as broken emergency lighting, exposed wiring, no fire alarms, boarded up windows, sagging floors, damage to floors and ceilings in units which had never been repaired, as well as areas where shingles were missing on the roof causing water to leak into apartments.

“This action relates a message to all apartment Managers that we have high expectations and will no longer allow substandard operations to exist,” explained Commissioner Terry Carter. “The people who rent these rooms are paying for a safe facility and we must make sure that happens. Community beautification and code enforcement continue to be major goals of the Toccoa City Commission. The elimination of unsafe and unsanitary conditions is a big part of the process.”

Morse said the City has no plans to take over the property. He said the owner now has the option to demolish the building once the tenants have moved out or renovate it and bring it up to city code standards.