Marietta condemns unsafe Wynhaven apartments
6/22/2007
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The city of Marietta continued inspections this week of Wynhaven Apartments at 560 Powder Springs Street and condemned 32 unsafe units in four buildings.

Marietta Code Enforcement manager Judy Garrett says the property is not being maintained and has been allowed to deteriorate, prompting city inspectors to shut down dozens of unsafe units in the complex.

In early June, city inspectors visited the common areas of the property and found dilapidated buildings that appeared unsafe. The complex’s owner, Berkman Wynhaven Associates, and on-site management allowed the city to inspect the interiors and exteriors of the apartments after a written request from Marietta for permission to inspect the property.

On June 21 Marietta Fire officials joined seven city of Marietta code enforcement inspectors in a survey of Wynhaven. They began by checking 40 apartments that appeared the most unsafe and condemned 32. Each was vacant, but some were unsecured and had vagrants living in them.

Inspectors found

• Gas leak in one building
• Gas lines to the stoves in three buildings were uncapped and could allow gas to leak, creating an extremely dangerous risk for adjoining occupied units
• Uncapped sewer line that could potentially expose adjacent occupied units to raw sewage
• Roofs had missing or deteriorating shingles that allowed water to leak into the top floors of apartments
• Broken windows and door locks
• Rotting bathroom sub floors
• Ceilings falling into units
• Evidence of cocaine use by vagrants in unsecured units

Garrett anticipates it will take city inspectors another week to complete inspections of the remaining occupied and unoccupied apartment units. There are 295 in the complex.

The city is compiling a list of other available apartment complexes in Marietta in the event condemnations of occupied Wynhaven units are required that displace residents.

Ongoing enforcement efforts

The most recent inspection of Wynhaven is a continuation of the city’s ongoing code enforcement efforts aimed at protecting residents, ensuring safe housing and improving the quality of life in Marietta neighborhoods.

Garrett says the number of the city’s overall Code Enforcement cases has increased 30 percent from January 2006-January 2007 as a result of three additional inspectors being added to the division. As of June 15, 2007, the caseload reached the same numbers as through August 2006.

After several months of training the new inspectors, the division conducted a survey of the city’s apartment complexes and picked the most severely unsafe for inspections, which are underway.

Officials also inspected Wynncreek at Little Street this week and found problems that needed to be corrected but required no condemnations.

The Code Enforcement Division plans to continue inspections of other apartment complexes in the city depending on the severity of violations.

Ensuring safe housing for all residents is a goal Marietta City Council adopted as part of its most recent vision statement.

For more information, call the city of Marietta’s Code Enforcement Division at 770-794-5439.