The Sandy Springs City Council approved the condemnation of a home that had been used as a marijuana grow house for years.
City Attorney Dan Lee told the council at its March 5 meeting that it was evident and uncontested that Mexican cartel drug money was used to purchase the home at 4804 Kitty Hawk Drive.
Sandy Springs Police executed a search warrant on the house last June and confirmed it was a major marijuana-growing operation. Two undocumented aliens were arrested and charged with felonies related to activities at the house. Lee said other individuals arrested in connection with this operation have entered guilty pleas, while the two arrested await trial.
The police search revealed that the basement was filled with hydroponic growing equipment. Air scrubbers were installed throughout the property to remove the odor of marijuana from the air, he said. The basement also had processing stations where the marijuana grown inside the house was dried and trimmed.
Officers found garbage bags filled with marijuana and large amounts of chemicals used in hydroponics.
A large amount of mold was found inside the house, which Lee said was likely caused by pumping water vapor generated by the plants.
The city’s chief building inspector inspected the Kitty Hawk Drive property and analyzed the structure’s value vs. the remediation cost. Interior demolition, exposed electrical wiring, black mold, and compromised structural integrity make the house uninhabitable, Lee said.
“The building is unsafe; it cannot be made safe. It presents a community hazard and that it would continue to be used for criminal enterprise if, in fact, it’s allowed to stay there,” Lee said, noting that the house has been broken into twice since the raid
He said the property will be seized and it will be taken off the criminal market to become a valuable part of the neighborhood again.
“We believe that the only way to prevent injury to the community is to demolish the house,” he said.
Once the property is seized and the home is demolished it can be sold. By law, the city will receive 90 percent of the sales price, and the county the other 10 percent, Lee said.
Proceeds from the sale will more than pay for the demolition and the cost to bring forward the condemnation, he said.
