MORAN — At the urging of 165 petitioners, Moran officials will clamp down on unkempt downtown properties.
Resident Donna Ross, who spearheaded a petition drive, told City Council members Monday the downtown area has become an unsafe eyesore.
“We currently have a buildup of trash, old cars and boats in plain sight,” Ross said. “We also have blankets covering the windows of local buildings, along with trash and junk blocking our sidewalks.
“So, 165 neighbors who signed this petition agree, it’s not just an eyesore,” she continued. “It’s a safety hazard and it needs cleaned up. All this sends a message of neglect, which hurts our town’s image and lowers our community pride.”
Ross and another 30 or so residents who attended Monday’s meeting pointed to two downtown properties in particular, the old Emprise Bank building and old funeral home, which sit less than a block apart on opposite sides of U.S. 59.
Ross said her biggest concern in the short-term is the upcoming Moran Days celebration, scheduled for Sept. 19.
“We want visitors to our town noticing what a clean, friendly little community we have, not how terrible our main street looks,” she said. “We love Moran, we want Main Street to be safe, clean, and an inviting place we can all be proud of.”
THE PETITION does more than just send a message, as Councilman Brad Barrere noted, because any petition with at least five signatures complaining of blighted properties is sufficient to compel a governing body to enforce cleanup.
In fact, the city has two tools in its quiver to handle the issue.
Moran Police Chief Shane Smith said he has already sent a notice to the owner of nuisance items — much of which included the aforementioned junk cars and debris — which requires action within 15 days.
“If I’m seeing progress, I will give another 15 days,” Smith said, until the properties are cleaned.
However, if the 15 days pass without sufficient cleanup, the city can take matters into its own hand, by citing the owner in Moran Municipal Court, eventually hiring a contractor to clean the properties, and assess the costs onto the property’s tax bill.
The nuisance violations are separate from what’s considered a “blighted” property, which is what Monday’s petition presentation cited.
Blighted properties carried a broader designation for a structure or property that has fallen into serious disrepair or abandonment.
In those cases, property owners are given 30 days to correct any violations. If nothing occurs after that, the city can order condemnation and demolition proceedings.
How quickly the issue can be remedied was foremost on the crowd’s mind, after former mayor Jerry Wallis pointed out Moran Days was less than six weeks away.
