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Council reviews blight map, considers ordinance updates and legal guidance
Summary
Wayne County Forward and an engineering firm provided a blight map ranking Fountain City addresses; the board discussed updating local ordinances to address raw vegetation and blight, asked the attorney for guidance and tabled amendments pending legal review.
A council member (S5) reported receiving a blighted-properties map prepared with Wayne County Forward and an engineering firm that ranks properties as good, fair or poor and lists addresses the partners marked as 'blighted.'
S5 said some entries are structural blight while others are mainly overgrown yards. The board discussed the difference between the town's existing mowing/vegetation ordinance and a separate unsafe-building or blight ordinance, and members acknowledged that enforcement must account for residents who lack the ability or resources to perform maintenance.
Committee member (S6) offered to draft explanations of what enforcement options exist under the various ordinances and suggested the board review properties one by one at a future meeting to decide which actions to pursue. S2 and others said amendments and enforcement details should wait until the town attorney clarifies due-process and enforcement steps; the board voted to table ordinance work pending that guidance.
S5 also noted a possible program that could help remediate some blighted properties, though not all categories (vegetation-only cases might be ineligible for some programs). The board did not adopt ordinance amendments at this meeting and asked staff and counsel to return with clearer options.
