Press Release
Mayor’s Office
334-595-0100
August 23, 2024
Good Afternoon: I wanted to take this opportunity to address the situation surrounding the City Council’s decision on Tuesday regarding the residential structure located at 106 7th Street.
First, the process began over 4 months ago. To provide clarity to any misunderstandings, the process governing dilapidated structures is provided by state law, not anything exclusive to the City of Prattville. That state law may be found in full in the Code of Alabama at Sections 11-53B-1 through 11-53B-16.
The city ordinance regarding the removal or repair of unsafe structures is found in Section 105-25, which adopts the above provisions of the Code of Alabama and does nothing more.
When the Alabama legislature adopted this process as state law over 20 years ago, it specifically found that across the state, there exist several thousand properties that have a blighting influence on the cities and neighborhoods in which the properties are located. The legislature also found that such properties constitute a threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the state and prevent the overall success, growth, and development within the municipality.
As to the Robinsons and their property at 106 7th Street, this situation has created a lot of public outcry of positive support, but also a lot of negative and hurtful rhetoric, which is a result of not communicating clearly or understanding. The process the city has gone through is the same process that numerous other properties have gone through. Each has the same due process, a process that is not up for interpretation according to state law and most certainly not up to the whims of public officials. In this situation, this process started well over 4 months ago on April 2, 2024, when Code Enforcement first noted and photographed the vacant property.
The latest step in this process occurred at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, August 20, 2024, in which the Council voted 4-2 to pass a Resolution regarding this property. This Resolution is clear and speaks for itself, but I want to point out a few things about it:
The Council found that the structure at 106 7th Street “continues to be unsafe and a public nuisance that must be repaired or demolished.”
It is inaccurate to suggest that the next step is destroying the structure. If you continue reading the Resolution, the next step is for Code Enforcement to secure quotes from third-party professionals for determining the cost of repairing or demolishing the structure, then has to come back before the Council for their approval or disapproval. Again, many checkpoints of due process remain, and we are in the middle of some of those currently after Tuesday’s vote.
In this matter, there has been abundant misunderstanding and spreading of rumors on social media, so I wanted to take a moment to address those as well.
First and foremost, the Robinsons do not live in the structure at issue, nor has anyone else resided there for several years.
Second, the City is not seizing or condemning the property for public use. As I stated from the beginning, addressing dilapidated structures is a process instituted upon the City by the state legislature for our citizens’ health, safety, and well-being. The property remains with the Robinsons and will remain with the Robinsons.
Third, there has been no final decision regarding this process, as there are still many steps to go. Options are available to both myself as Mayor and the City Council, and they are actively being explored and considered.
I am encouraged by the outpouring of public support for the Robinsons, and it is my hope that out of this situation, regardless of what happens, the public will continue to seek out new and creative ways to help their fellow neighbors.
Thank you.
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