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The City of Mobile has taken legal action against the owner of Barrington Park
Apartments to address litter and garbage on the property that has accumulated for months.
As part of a lawsuit filed Nov. 1, the City of Mobile has asked a Mobile County Circuit Judge to declare Barrington Park Apartments, located at 442 Cottage Hill Rd., a public nuisance. As part of the lawsuit, the city filed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) today seeking access to the property so the litter and garbage can be cleaned up immediately with the costs assessed to the owner.
A court granted the city’s request for a TRO during a hearing Thursday afternoon. As a result, the City of Mobile’s Public Services employees will begin removing the garbage and litter from the property on Friday, Nov. 3. With the permission of the court, the city will also be temporarily placing dumpsters on the property until this situation with the owners can be fully resolved in court.
“All property owners, individuals and businesses, are entitled to due process under the law. However, this issue has grown from a nuisance to a threat to public health and safety,” Mayor Sandy Stimpson said. “When it became clear the owners were not going to step up and do the right thing, I asked multiple city departments to explore any legal remedy that would allow us to access the property and clean this mess up immediately. The residents, neighbors and the people of Mobile do not deserve this, and we greatly appreciate the courts giving us the tools we need to address this now.”
After receiving complaints from residents at Barrington Park Apartments in October, the City of Mobile began routinely fining the complex. To date, the complex has been fined at least 17 times for litter and garbage on the ground and not having a dumpster on site for residents to use. The complex will continue to be ticketed until the matter is resolved. In addition, the City of Mobile is also moving forward with a nuisance abatement process to secure any unsecured structures on the property.