Media

Northaven Beautification Effort Follow Up Meeting This Week With Residents

Release Date: March 30, 2005

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Shelby County Mayor’s Office and the University of Memphis Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice are continuing their efforts to assist residents in the Northaven community.

A meeting will be held Thursday evening, March 31, 2005 to highlight the plan to correct many health code and zoning violations in the North Shelby County neighborhood.

“These residents have asked our help to address reports of illegal dumping, abandoned properties littered with debris, and inoperable vehicles. These issues breed crime and we must take an aggressive stand about these environmental violations if we’re to help reduce crime in this neighborhood,” said Shelby County Sheriff Mark H. Luttrell, Jr.

“Strong neighborhoods are the fabric of Shelby County,” said Mayor A C Wharton, Jr. “The Northaven clean-up effort is an excellent example of how citizens and public agencies can work together to reclaim and rebuild our neighborhood communities, and I'm proud to pledge my ongoing support for this important initiative.”

“Crime prevention research has demonstrated that strong communities are the best way to prevent crime. Beginning by fixing the “broken windows” in Northaven, citizens and public agencies are working towards creating a safe community. The University is proud, as part of its urban mission, to be part of this collaborative effort to rebuild a community,” said Richard Janikowski, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Memphis.

Staff members with the University of Memphis department of Criminology and Criminal Justice surveyed the neighborhood recently and found many instances of vacant, open houses, illegally dumped trash and inoperable cars illegally parked.

Back on March 12, 2005, about 50 people from the Sheriff’s Office and other agencies canvassed the Northaven community and delivered notices to all 1300 homes in the neighborhood. The notice urged property owners to correct any zoning or heath code violations on their property.

Additionally, a supervised team of inmates from the Shelby County Corrections Center cleaned vacant lots and removed discarded furniture, trash, tires and other debris that littered the curbside in many parts of the neighborhood.

Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputies also issued “intent to tow” notices on more than 20 abandoned, inoperable cars parked on the streets.

In the coming weeks, zoning and health department inspectors will return to the Northaven area to issue citations for code violations that have not been corrected by property owners.

The residents will hear more about the improvements project at the Northaven Elementary School PTA meeting this Thursday evening, March 31, 2005, at Northaven Elementary School, located at 5157 North Circle Road.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m.

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