Thursday, September 12, 2024
Many Hood County residents are voicing urgent concerns against a neighbor who they feel is causing severe environmental and safety issues due to their property’s “junkyard.”
During a Hood County Commissioners Court meeting Aug. 13, the court addressed the issue of an environmental hazard complaint at 3800 Mabery Drive — a case that has sparked significant community concern and is now awaiting trial at district court.
Patti Buck, a resident of 3711 Mabery Drive, detailed the adverse effects the “junkyard” has had on her quality of life.
“We built our home in ‘97, been there about 27 years ... and everybody has built beautiful homes, taken very good care of their homes — but we have a bully in the neighborhood,” she said. “It’s environmentally unsafe. There’s broken glass ... fires at 2 a.m. It’s a junkyard. Several neighbors are not here because they feel intimidated.”
Karla Daniel, who has resided at 3709 Mabery Drive since 1997, added to the concerns, noting the negative impact on property values and the safety hazards presented by the “junkyard.”
“The piles of junk and debris that are left near the road could pose an immediate safety threat for children," she said. "There are numerous ways Mother Nature and time can work against us in maintaining our properties, but this problem is man made, and it's one that can be fixed by doing the neighborly thing — cleaning it up.”
Cindy Holley, living at 3710 Mabery Drive, called the property a “literal junkyard,” comparing it to the television show, “Sanford and Son.” She also detailed the extensive debris littering the yard, which includes washers, dryers, mowers, mattresses, clothes, sofas, filing cabinets, refrigerators, mowers, hot tubs, and a burn pile she said measures about 15 feet in diameter.
“The fire department's been out there at least four times,” Holly said. “The last time was approximately three weeks ago at 2:30 a.m. in the morning. I called because I'm sitting on my porch, and I keep smelling these odors, and then I flip my light on and the smoke is just coming around the corner.”
Holley explained that when the fire trucks arrived, they had to back up a considerable distance due to obstructions.
"Our street is not that wide. It barely accommodates two vehicles,” she said. “They had to back up all the way down our street to the next street, and if somebody's house was on fire past that point, you know ... people die in seconds.”
Precinct 2 Commissioner Nannette Samuelson also read an email that was sent to her by resident Kathy Fortson, who resides at 6212 Kelly Drive.
In her email, Fortson expressed grave concerns about the property at 3800 Mabery Drive, describing it as not only “unsightly,” but also “unsanitary” and “unsafe.” She highlighted several dangers, including potential fire hazards, disease risks from rust and sharp debris, and the possibility of children becoming trapped in abandoned appliances.
She also pointed out that the property’s burn pile, located near heaps of rubbish, violates Hood County’s fire prevention regulations.
According to the Hood County website, only dry plant material from the burn site itself may be burned. Residents are prohibited from burning within 300 feet of any residential, recreational, commercial or industrial area not located on the property where the burning is taking place. Additionally, burning is restricted to the hours between one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset.
“In the first week of July of this year, the fire department was called to extinguish a fire burning on this property in the middle of the night,” Fortson’s email states. “As you know, the fire marshal put restrictions in place to protect residents from loss of property and loss of life. I'm very concerned that since they are not obeying these restrictions, that our neighborhood will at some point end up in the news for a devastating fire."
During the Hood County Commissioners Court meeting last week, it was revealed the case is currently pending in district court, where legal proceedings are underway to address the complaints.
County Attorney Matt Mills said residents are encouraged to attend the trial, as their presence and testimony could be beneficial. He mentioned that having a neighbor testify might also add weight to the case, given their daily experiences compared to the less frequent visits by health department officials.
While residents await the pending trial, development director Clint Head offered a separate option to deal with the many concerns: a salvage yard/junk yard order. This ordinance would impose restrictions on such businesses, mandating they be located a certain distance from residential properties and be screened to minimize visibility from neighboring houses and roadways.
“This actually started a couple years ago,” Head explained. “It was a resolution problem in another neighborhood, and I started drafting it back then, but kind of just let it sit and get stale. When this came up, that same statute that allows you to draft that order also allows for other types of things to be added to it — not just the salvage yard, but the junkyard resale business.”
Head added that although this would be an option to address residents’ concern, several issues still need to be ironed out by the court before a public hearing can be set to adopt the new order.
Environmental health director Jeannie Stacks noted that since January, the environmental health department has investigated 913 complaints, not including permits and inspections. She said since April 1, nearly 450 cases have been forwarded to Justice of the Peace courts. In 2024 alone, Stacks’ office has filed for four injunctions — including one for the property in question.
"This case was sent and a fine was paid Feb. 9, 2024,” she said. “We have very good JPs here. Before, we didn't know the outcome of the cases, but the JPs have been reaching out and giving us the outcome of the cases — that's the reason I can tell you the people were fined at one time. We still have had minimal results; therefore, we're just filing the injunction.”
Hood County Fire Marshal Jeff Young acknowledged that the Hood County Commissioners Court has limited options at this point, since the matter is already in district court. He suggested that pursuing further legal action might be an option if repeated fines are not effective.
“To me, if he’s burning after hours outside the book, he ought to be cited by the fire marshal’s office every time he does it,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Jack Wilson suggested.
Young emphasized that his office has a 24/7 on-call service to respond to fire-related issues. However, he said he was surprised to learn that there were reports of fires and illegal burning at the property after hours, even though his office was never notified.
“Our issue with this is, we’ve not ever been called after hours to go and deal with it,” he said. “The last call we got called (for this property) was about three months ago. My deputy, when he got out there, the fire was going on at three o'clock in the morning. The tenant who lives in one of the RVs on the property said that he didn't light the fire, that there must have been kids walking around the neighborhood at three o'clock in the morning. I would have to call the BS card on that one. However, I will tell you, with fires, it's very difficult to take a case like that to court and say, “Well, we assume that you lit it,’ because they're going to want to see a picture of someone with a match in their hands.’”
Young stressed the importance of reporting any fires immediately so they can be documented and managed appropriately. He also clarified that while his office can address fires and unsafe conditions, they cannot act solely based on unsightly properties.
“For the record, what I'm asking is, when those fires occur, call us and let us come out and address it,” he said. “That way we have a record of it, and we can take care of it.”
Young stressed the importance of reporting any suspicious smoke or fires immediately through 911 or the non-emergency line. He explained that if his office is not notified at the time of the incident, they can’t definitively attribute the fire to someone, especially without direct evidence.
“Unfortunately, my business does not run well on assumptions,” he said. “I can't assume that he was the one that lit the fire ... I know that he was probably the one that did it, but until I can prove that, there's not a judge in this building that's going to take that (case).”
“Everybody feels your pain on this,” Hood County Judge Ron Massingill said, addressing the residents. “I hope you get some justice in district court.”
