After issuing thousands of dollars in fines, the town of Greene is suing a man in town for an illegal junkyard and flea market.
Since 2007, George Stanley has been cited three times for violating the town’s junkyard and flea market ordinances.
Now, for the second time, the town is taking him to court.
“This is a new effort to bring the property into compliance,” Code Enforcement Officer Brent Armstrong said.
There are 23 active ordinance violations across the town of Greene, but none of them are quite like the home of Stanley.
“I can’t go around town and enforce this junkyard ordinance on everybody else and not at least make an effort to bring that property into compliance,” Armstrong said.
The town has tried multiple times to talk to Stanley, including visiting his home. The lawsuit is being filed after multiple notices to comply with town ordinances.
“If George Stanley walked in here today, I would be more than happy to work with him,” Armstrong said.
There are at least three unregistered and uninspected cars on the property, among piles of “junk,” “debris” and “trash,” as stated in court documents.
“We’re going to clean the property up,” Armstrong said.
Neighbor Kerri Day said the community is sick of having this at the entrance of town.
“It’s chaos is what it is,” Day said. “It’s a mess. I always used to say you see the ‘Welcome to Greene’ sign and then that’s what you see in the background of it. It’s not very impressive.”
Stanley has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
A judge ruled he owed the town more than $12,000 in fines when it took him to court in 2015.
Stanley was able to avoid the legal fees though because the town filed the suit against him and not his LLC, Utopian Underdogs.
“We don’t want George’s money, we don’t want George’s property,” Armstrong said. “We want the property in compliance.”
If the court sides with the town of Greene, Stanley could face a $100 fine every day for each of the flea market and junkyard violations.
