DeKalb County is taking its blight fight to the next level.
Officials announced this week that work has begun on a "comprehensive property conditions survey," a project that will involve compiling street-level photos, occupancy information and other data from some 140,000 properties throughout unincorporated DeKalb. The results will help the county's community development department better identify problem properties and create a long-term strategy for blight removal.
Blighted properties are a significant issue — and an increasingly frequent target — for DeKalb. Since 2017, the county has demolished or otherwise abated more than 420 properties, according to a news release.
“The survey is an additional tool to revitalize DeKalb,” DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond said. “The data collected from the survey will help to create an interactive database that will track and record blighted properties in the county.”
DeKalb commissioners approved last month the $361,000 contract allowing Cyclomedia Technologies Inc. to complete the survey. Work is expected to be completed by June.
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