Riding early one morning after dropping my daughter off to school my wife and I took an alternate route down North Hairston Road back to our subdivision. After passing a nice view of Stone Mountain from afar at the corner of Ponce De Leon and Mountain Industrial, we enjoyed the scenery until we came upon a very dangerous and dreary stretch of road that at one time housed “The Colony Of Stone Mountain” apartments. Although we were just passing by the property, we could not help but to notice how the abandoned apartment complex was easily accessible from the street given the nature of the property. It blew my mind that a property of this magnitude was not secured and closed off from the public to avoid any potential unlikely dangers.  It was the elephant in the room!

The complex looks like a scene from “The Walking Dead." Multiple apartment doors are either open or missing. All these things could be seen from the street. I could not help but to think of all the schools nearby this property and the people that have to walk past this property every day in fear of the unthinkable.  I could not get the notion out of my mind that this property is a danger and breeding ground for some serious criminal activity.  It does not take long before the wrong element claims this place for their new home. I could not imagine how the people feel that live on either side of this empty and unsecure property. While passing by this property today I saw a young man walking into the complex as though he was taking a short cut home. Heaven only knows what lurks inside of this property.

As we traveled toward the corner of Redan Road and South Hairston, I thought about the Dairy Queen that I used to frequent for soft serve ice-cream.  What was once a thriving business is now an empty property that has been turned into a self-made truck stop. What can we do about the failed and abandoned apartment complexes and businesses in our community? Do these empty structures pose a threat that could bring unwanted criminal activity to our neighborhoods? What other eye sores or places do you see that are potential problem areas in our Redan – Stone Mountain area? Do you think that Code Enforcement and law enforcement is doing all that they can to keep our areas safe? What are your thoughts? Without an intervention, this is the perfect storm for disaster!