A DeKalb County man who runs a nonprofit organization wants to turn a blighted property into a community center.
But before he can do that he has to get people to stop dumping their trash there.
A couple of years ago, stories aired by Channel 2 Action News helped get the property cleaned up. It took the county four years to get a court order for the project and they finally got it nearly two years ago.
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The property was looking good at the time, but now the trash is starting to pile up again, making it impossible for Demetrius Ramsey to transform the site into a community center.
“The development center was to open in January of this year,” Ramsey told Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes.
It never happened because Ramsey, who is leasing the property, can’t keep it clean. He said the community needs the center on Old Wesley Chapel Road.
The center would be home to child development programs, senior citizen programs, and unity programs.
Ramsey showed Fernandes a 10-year lease he signed with the property owner.
“We were making it better. I had went inside the building (and) cleaned the whole building out,” Ramsey said.
He did all that while the DeKalb County code compliance has an open case for the property. Next month a judge could sign an order to demolish the building.
Ramsey hopes he can stop the demolition since he’s put so much time and money into making this the community center he dreams of opening.
“It took four dumpsters to clean that inside out,” Ramsey said.
The case has a hearing scheduled for December. The county has tried to abate the property at least three times previously.
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