Neighbors press council over long‑running junk‑vehicle site; council denies business license change request

Residents from the South Johnson neighborhood told the Montgomery City Council on Jan. 28 that a private towing/storage site at 4411 Norman Ridge Road has had junk vehicles and pest problems for years and that code enforcement has not cleared the site. The council heard a binder of time‑stamped photos and testimony describing vehicles encroaching into the roadway and reported rodent sightings.

The council then considered a resolution to add auto‑repossession to the business license for Nightmare Towing at that address. After discussion and a report from city staff that code enforcement and other departments needed to coordinate responses, the council voted to deny the resolution; the motion to deny was approved unanimously.

Why it matters: neighborhood speakers said the condition of the site has created safety and health concerns for adjacent residents, including an elderly resident who said she regularly encounters snakes when going outside. Residents asked the city to enforce an existing abatement order; councilors asked staff to coordinate enforcement across departments.

What happened at the meeting: Angela (identified as representing the South Johnson Neighborhood Association) presented photographs and a history of complaints; a city official said code enforcement is involved and that other departments would coordinate. The council suspended rules and then denied the resolution to change the business license to allow repossession activity at that location. The denial leaves the site's license status and enforcement path unchanged; council members asked staff to follow up with code enforcement and other departments.