In rare move, a DeKalb County judge issued a bench warrant Tuesday for the owner of Creekside Forest Apartment Homes, a blighted and crime-plagued complex off I-20, after he missed a court hearing.
Chester Meisel, who county officials previously said was working to clean up the property, was set to appear before Judge Matthew McCoyd to answer to 338 county code violations. The judge set the bond on the warrant for $338,000, the same amount he faces in fines.
The Ember Drive complex in recent weeks has become emblematic of the struggles of south DeKalb, where some absentee landlords have allowed apartments to become overrun by violence, drug activity and vandals. At Creekside Forest, residents said they feared for their children’s safety as squatters and crime took hold and health hazards spread throughout the grounds with garbage.
Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May called the warrant a "huge step in the right direction" toward recitfying the situation in the county.
The judge's order comes a day after county officials reported progress in their efforts to help residents at the complex find new housing.
Eviction notices sent by Meisel last week paved the way for DeKalb to assist some tenants by connecting them with a program that could cover first month’s rent at another complex, a county spokesman said. Others were being directed to the DeKalb Housing Authority.
Tuesday's action was only the second time in the last year that Solicitor General Sherry Boston's office has obtained a warrant in a code enforcement case.
“The situation at Creekside is fairly egregious,” she said told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It is a plague on that community and a potential hazard to anyone who might walk on that property.”
County officials maintain they've been working for some time to get the complex into compliance, but the conditions came to light after County Commissioner Nancy Jester invited media to tour the site earlier this month.
Her involvement at the complex, which lies outside her district, further strained her relationship with Commissioner Larry Johnson, who represents south DeKalb.
On Tuesday, Johnson was in court when Meisel didn’t show. He had previously said Meisel was cooperating with the county.
“It’s disappointing,” Johnson told The AJC. “He cannot leave our community like this. He’s got to get the property up to date.
"The families are going to need a lot of help,” he said.
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