MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On Tuesday, city officials presented to council how they’re planning to work with Peppertree tenants in the coming days.
Recently, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office filed nuisance paperwork citing nearly 1600 calls to police over the last 20 months at Peppertree Apartments.
Ashley Cash, the Director of Housing and Community Development, and Jennifer Sink, the chief legal officer for the city of Memphis, provided an update to city council members about the status of tenants at the Peppertree Apartments in Whitehaven.
“What we want to really communicate is that we hope the property can be improved, it can become safe,” Ashley Cash said.
They say the complex is not being vacated right now. There is no forced relocation.
However, they do not want new tenants moving in.
“We want to make sure they’re fully informed of what’s going on,” Cash said. “We don’t want any misinformation.”
They’re working to get a tenant list to be able to communicate with the roughly 1,000 people who live in the more than 300 units.
Cash said they’re watching to see what happens in court.
Last week, the company that owns Peppertree filed documents saying the nuisance injunction violates the company’s obligation to provide housing and it wants a federal judge to intervene.
As of Tuesday afternoon, online records show a federal court date has not been set.
“We want it to stay open, we want it to be maintained as it should be maintained,” Cash said.
However, Cash said living conditions need to safe, decent and affordable.
“The vouchers that families and residents have over their site-based vouchers. Which means they are with the site of Peppertree. What the city is trying to do is to make sure through other assistance programs, other partners around town if we need to provide any relocation assistance that we do have the funds to do that, we have the places where people are able to go,” she said.
If someone you know is having challenges related to housing, they ask you to call 211 to help find solutions.
“If you live in Peppertree and you’re watching this, one- know that your apartment is not closed. It’s still open and available and we are really working hard to make sure the property owner fixes up the facility to be a place where we all would want to lay our heads,” Cash said.