Charleston Mayor Sedrick Smith and members of the city board are asking residents to “rise to the challenge” and clean.
In a Tuesday statement released by City Hall, residents were asked to help city officials “remove blighted properties in an effort to improve the health and safety of our city.”
The statement noted, “We ask residents to eliminate or remove overgrown properties, accumulation of junk, debris, abandoned vehicles and dilapidated and burned structures.”
While not expressly citing a penalty for noncompliance, the statement was accompanied by a section of state law, 21-19-11, which details the process whereby private property may be declared “a menace to the public health, safety and welfare of the community,” and prescribes certain steps governments can take to address the issue, including cleaning the property in question and assessing the cost to the property owner, along with a penalty of up to $1,000.
