TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A Tallahassee homeowner says not enough is being done to help fix her neighbor's blighted home.
Mary Milton has lived in her home on Alabama Street for eight years. She cares about her Griffin Heights neighborhood, and just wants to see it improve.
Next to Milton's well-kept yard is a home she says is causing some trouble. The owner is elderly and doesn't live there full-time, so the yard is overrun.
Milton says some of her other neighbors are complaining about it to the City of Tallahassee. Instead of fining folks who are having trouble keeping up on their home repairs, Milton says she'd rather see her neighbors working together to figure out which city programs can help.
"I think we should get together with these homeowners and address the issues, rather than [have] a fine put upon them," said Milton. "They can't pay the fine and then a lien is taken upon the property. They get so far in debt, there's no way to recover."
The city has two programs that help low-income homeowners make expensive or emergency fixes. The goal is to keep homeowners in their home, even if they're facing a costly crisis.
"We do have code enforcement," said Michael Parker, Director of the City of Tallahassee's Department of Community Housing and Human Services. "That's a public safety function we do, but providing affordable housing is a really critical quality of life issue for our community."
"We need to do a walk-through in the neighborhood, get a pencil and pad and see what we need to do home-by-home in this neighborhood," said Milton.
Neighbors helping neighbors before the bills and the bushes get too high to manage.
For more details on the City of Tallahassee's Code Enforcement Rehabilitation Program & Emergency Home Repair Program, click here.
You can also call (850) 891-6528 or visit the Economic & Community Development office on the 3rd floor of the Frenchtown Renaissance Center at 435 North Macomb Street.
