Downtown New Albany junkyard ordered cleaned up

 New Albany, MS- City Code Enforcement gave a Union County man thirty days to clean up an illegal New Albany junkyard holding more than 100 wrecked and disabled motor vehicles in the downtown area.

The Snyder Street property lies less than 400 feet northeast of the intersection of West Main Street and Bankhead Street. It is about 550 feet from New Albany’s Park-Along-the-River and less than 1,000 feet from City Hall and the Tanglefoot Trail trailhead.

More disabled vehicles on New Albany junkyard property.

Code Enforcement Officer Eric Thomas sent a letter Wednesday, January 18, to Jimmy Grubbs at a Blue Springs address. The letter from Thomas to Grubbs says, in part, “I recently inspected and took photographs of your property at the above referenced [Snyder St.] address and I found that the condition of the property is in violation of municipal code 10-97.”

The code enforcement officer’s letter to Grubbs refers to the property as a “junkyard” and “wrecking yard.” It states that, “A wrecking yard cannot be in a CS zone.”

The vehicles — a mixture of sedans, pickup trucks, sports utility vehicles, etc. — have accumulated on the property within the last three years. A May 19, 2014, Google Earth photograph of the property shows only 16-18 vehicles on the lot.  Their condition cannot be determined from the photo. The code officer said the city has “received many complaints on the way this property looks.

Time frame for voluntary cleanup of New Albany junkyard

Thomas’s letter to Grubbs says, “You are hereby given 30 days in which to voluntarily bring your property into compliance with the ordinance. If you fail to do this within that time period, the City will proceed under section 10-97 of the City code, copy of which is attached. Should you have any questions concerning this letter or code section 10-97, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above number.”

Code Enforcement Officer Eric Thomas said Monday morning (January 23) that it “appears as though Mr. Grubbs may have made some progress” in a voluntary cleanup. However, Thomas said he could not quantify it, or even affirm for certain that any progress had been made.

For other Code Enforcement actions: Condemned houses