{"id":3312,"date":"2022-01-28T08:34:18","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T16:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/?p=3312"},"modified":"2023-06-26T13:26:56","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T20:26:56","slug":"reclaimed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/2022\/01\/28\/reclaimed\/","title":{"rendered":"Reclaimed"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There are many ways a piece of private property can fall into a terrible condition.\u00a0 A family medical issue may distract a homeowner.\u00a0 The loss of a job may delay home repairs or maintenance.\u00a0 Or advancing age may prevent an older person from caring for their home as they had for years.\u00a0 Many times a neighbor may come over to help out, or a church youth group or service club.<\/p>\n

But, too many times the property goes unaddressed \u2013 accumulating junk cars or solid waste \u2013 to the point where it impacts the community. That\u2019s when our Code Enforcement Team goes to work.\u00a0 Their job is helping maintain our community standards (as represented by our Pierce County Code).\u00a0 Most of the time, they can work with the property owner to get it cleaned up.\u00a0 But occasionally, when the owner can\u2019t or won\u2019t, our Code Enforcement team steps in with a court order and a specialized contractor. I have seen the \u201cbefore\u201d and \u201cafter\u201d pictures and the transformation is dramatic.<\/p>\n

But I was not really prepared for what I saw on January 18th<\/sup> out on the Key Peninsula.\u00a0 This once proud and cared for six-acre property was awash in junk cars, garbage, and some unsafe structures.\u00a0 As it turns out the elderly owner was being exploited by criminals who both trashed the property and used it as a hub of their criminal activity.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Pierce County came to the rescue. It took a strong partnership between Code Enforcement, Human Services, the Sheriff\u2019s Department, the Prosecutor\u2019s Office, and our specialty contractor.\u00a0 A powerful team arrived on the property, led by Nick Waggood, our Pierce County Building Official, and reclaimed the property and supported the owner.<\/p>\n

You can see some of what I saw on this episode of Inside Pierce County.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be blown away by the finished product!<\/p>\n