Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich filed eleven (11) public nuisance petitions against various property owners throughout the city.  Ten of the eleven nuisance petitions were filed in conjunction with Neighborhood Preservation Act (NPA) lawsuits filed in Shelby County Environmental Court by the City of Memphis today.
“The problems created by these properties do not stop at the sidewalk,” said D.A. Weirich.  “They creep into neighborhoods around the corner and across town.”  
On February 8th, 2012, petitions for abatement of nuisance were filed on the following locations:
3222 Airways (NPA filed jointly with D.A.’s nuisance petition)
3180 Steele (NPA filed jointly with D.A.’s nuisance petition)
3152 Mountain Terrace (NPA filed jointly with D.A.’s nuisance petition)
3153 Mountain Terrace (NPA filed jointly with D.A.’s nuisance petition)
1073 East McLemore (NPA filed jointly with D.A.’s nuisance petition)
5328 Brenton (NPA filed jointly with D.A.’s nuisance petition)
1488 Pendleton (NPA filed jointly with D.A.’s nuisance petition)
3238 University  (NPA filed jointly with D.A.’s nuisance petition)
3295 Boone (NPA filed jointly with D.A.’s nuisance petition)
3266 Boone (NPA filed jointly with D.A.’s nuisance petition)
366 Lucy
The petition orders the owners of these properties to appear in Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Division 14 to address how they will improve the conditions of their properties. 
The D.A.’s nuisance petitions claim that the properties threaten the health, safety and welfare of the surrounding community.   The petition asserts these locations have become havens for vandalism, thefts, and burglaries.  Graffiti found on several of the properties indicates moderate to heavy criminal gang activity.   Vagrants and unauthorized persons have been living in some of the properties. Illegal dumping is rampant and unchecked.  The majority of the properties are abandoned and dilapidated and some have been burned.
   The D.A.’s Office has filed public nuisance actions against the owners of more than 200 properties throughout Shelby County, both residential and business. Some nuisance actions have resulted in permanent closure of the properties. Others have reopened under consent orders.
Tennessee’s nuisance law states that the District Attorney General has authority to bring a civil action against any establishment deemed a public nuisance.  The statute defines a nuisance, in part, as “any place that threatens the public peace, health and safety.”