Anniston Council may declare shopping center a public nuisance

Anniston city officials say they may soon take action forcing the aging, nearly vacant Lenlock Shopping Center be repaired or.

During its Monday work session, the Anniston City Council discussed declaring the long-time shopping center a public nuisance as a first step toward encouraging its repair or possibly tearing it down.

 The council expects to vote on the issue when they meet next week.

Once it's declared a nuisance, then the city can motivate or force action ... or the city could abate and demo the property and put a lien on it for the cost of the demo.

Code Enforcer Tana Bryant said she wanted the council to declare the shopping center a nuisance. Bryant said many of the empty sections are in disrepair.

The shopping center is currently in the care of the state after the previous owners failed to pay property taxes on it. However, the city can't get the state to pay for repairs to the site.

Some sections of the shopping center have tax liens on them from other parties who are charging rent to the few tenants still there, Johnson said. The city is looking into encouraging those parties to pay for repairs.

Officials say there is a chance the property could soon be up for auction, at which point the city would have the buyer pay for repairs.