Stonecrest, GA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Sec. 7-250 names the article the Stonecrest Blighted Property Ordinance. Sec. 7-252 defines blight broadly to include an uninhabitable, unsafe or abandoned structure, inadequate ventilation or sanitation, environmental contamination, repeated criminal activity the owner knew or should have known about, code violations uncorrected for at least three months after written notice, or vacant commercial property with no activity for more than three months, while specifying that aesthetics alone can never qualify. Sec. 7-253(a) levies an increased ad valorem tax by applying a factor of ten to the millage rate on any parcel officially designated as blighted, though owner-occupied primary residences cannot be designated or taxed at the higher rate.

Under Sec. 7-254, designation starts with an inspection triggered either by the public officer or by a request from at least five residents of different households, followed by a written inspection report and a written determination served on the taxpayer of record. The property owner has 30 days from receiving that notice to request a municipal court hearing, where the public officer bears the burden of proving blight by a preponderance of the evidence, and the judge's decision is final subject to review by the Superior Court of DeKalb County within 30 days.

Sec. 7-255 lets an owner petition to lift the designation by completing a city-approved remedial plan, verified by a building inspector. Sec. 7-256(a) then rewards remediation with a decreased rate, a factor of 0.5 applied to the millage, for up to four successive years at one year of reduction per $25,000 spent on repairs.