A fence to hide unsightly work

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, September 6, 2017

longstanding eyesore in Pearl River County is one step closer to being resolved. Yesterday, the Pearl River County Board of Supervisors took action to prosecute a violator of the county’s junkyard ordinance.

The property is located on a busy county road and is occupied with an unsightly number of cars, some awaiting repair while some are only useful for parts.

The county code enforcement officers have spent months trying to work with the property owner and renter to try to resolve this matter without legal action, but slow moving solutions have led to the need for a stronger push.

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Some supervisors have expressed that not only is the junkyard unsightly, but could be driving down property values as new residents chose not to move to the area.

Most people don’t want to live across the street from a yard full of old cars.

Some of the circumstances concerning the cars are understandable; people have a right to run a business. But with so many cars unable to be fixed for lack of funds, you have to wonder why the shop owner agreed to take them in the first place.

Now, he’s in a tricky situation. He can’t legally move the cars he doesn’t own, but he also isn’t putting up the fence to hide them.

This is just one case of many though. With such projects demanding so much time and attention, it’s hard for just a couple of code enforcement officers to take action on more than two at a time, at least of this scale.

These officials also work hard on a daily basis to take care of smaller matters, some of which could in turn develop into larger issues if not dealt with early on.

I’m thankful for everything these county employees do—and the county for hiring them—to keep our county looking it’s best.

About Julia Arenstam

Staff Writer

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