By Glenn Kolp, Guest Columnist
In the interest of giving credit where it’s due, I’ll start by saying the efforts of many good folks to clean up litter in Cherokee County hasn’t gone unnoticed. I can tell a big difference just in the last few years.
Also kudos go to all the workers at the rest area in Andrews. It’s always neat and well maintained. While it seems like an odd thing
to say, I think it’s the nicest rest area I’ve ever seen.
And the majority of our residents take great pride in the condition of their property. It’s a great example of how mankind’s footprints don’t always need to take away from the beauty of God’s creation.
Standing in stark contrast to that beauty are more than a few examples of outright squallor. Some of the worst examples are on the main drag leading into our towns.
Welcome to Cherokee County, but please avert your eyes from those properties that more closely resemble a dump than a domicile. I’ve seen where neighbors have actually erected stockade-type fences just so they don’t have to stare at the broken-down vehicles and campers, bags and piles of trash, old furniture, household appliances, unoccupied dwellings damaged by fire, etc.
The excuse that these are poor people who were raised that way and don’t know any better doesn’t hold a drop of water. We should be people with pride, who care about their neighbors and the impression that our community conveys to visitors to our area.
What major employer is going to locate here once they see what we allow to exist in our midst? They can only assume that the rest of us don’t care about our property values, children’s future, safety or the natural beauty of our area.
It would be a mistake to think that the people responsible for these atrocious properties are excercising their personal freedom. They are not. They are stealing from each and every one of us, no different than if they put a gun to our head and stole our wallet.
Many municipalities, some not far from here, have enacted property maintenance codes that provide for the enforcement of basic minimum living standards. The work has already been done, the legal challenges already adjudicated in countless other towns and counties. All we need to do is copy and paste.
Our county commissioners are tasked with making decisions and acting in the best interests of all their constituents. I’m asking them to leave a meaningful legacy by working together and confronting this issue head on. If they decline to act, the work will be left to future boards.
Rest assured it’ll get done eventually, but why should our county suffer until then?
The writer is a resident of Andrews.