Cedar Creek
CIVIC ASSOCIATION
ATHENS, GEORGIA
Questions & Answers
February 2026
What can be done about cars parked/abandoned on a neighborhood street on a permanent basis or which have been parked for a while but block the sight line on oncoming traffic?
Examples:
(1) A pickup truck parked on a neighborhood street with all tires flat that has not moved in over 3 months.
(2) A car parked for more than 2 days that makes it hard to see oncoming traffic.
Answers:
----For clearly abandoned vehicles, call the Athens-Clarke County police department at 706-613-3345 (non-emergency) and report the vehicle and quote ordinance 3-9-2 (see below). You can alternatively contact the ACC Communications Department (work hours M-F) at 706-613-3795 or info@accgov.com and they will route your concern to the appropriate department. Note, a junked vehicle is any vehicle that "either does not have lawfully affixed on it an unexpired license plate or tax stamp, or which vehicle is wrecked, dismantled, partially dismantled, inoperative, abandoned, or discarded."
---For vehicles that have not moved for two or more days, call the ACC Communications Department and report a violation of ordinance Section 3-3-20 (see below).
Athens-Clarke County Municipal Code, Sec. 3-9-2. - Storing, parking or leaving unattended any junked vehicle or abandoned motor vehicle prohibited; declared nuisance; exceptions.
No person shall park, store, leave, or permit the parking storing or leaving of any abandoned motor vehicle or any junked vehicle upon any public property within Athens-Clarke County for a period of time in excess of three (3) days. Nor shall any person park, store, leave or permit the parking, storing or leaving of any junked vehicle upon any private property within Athens-Clarke County for a period of time in excess of 30 days. The presence of an abandoned motor vehicle on public property or of a junked vehicle or any parts of such a vehicle on private or public property is hereby declared a public nuisance which may be abated as such in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. This section shall not apply to any vehicle enclosed within a building on private property or to any vehicle held by an automotive maintenance, repair, or salvage facility, or similar business enterprise, lawfully licensed by Athens-Clarke County and properly operated in an appropriate business zone, pursuant to the zoning laws of Athens-Clarke County, or to any motor vehicle in operable condition specifically adopted or designed for operation on raceways or drag strips.
Athens-Clarke County Municipal Code, Sec. 3-3-20. - Parking for more than 48 hours in one place.
In addition to and cumulative of any provision of this Code, it shall be unlawful for the operator of any vehicle to park the same continuously in one place for more than 48 hours on any public street, highway or alley, or in an Athens-Clarke County parking deck, lot or garage, or on any other facility or property owned or leased by Athens-Clarke County.
April 2026
Why is it that every new housing development seems to start with all the trees being cut down?
While this seems to be the case, in reality, the issue of trees and development is much more complicated. Athens Clarke County has a Community Tree Management Ordinance, (see https://accgov.com/273/Tree-Ordinance) that requires the conservation and replanting of the tree canopy and street and parking lot trees during development. The county's goal is to retain at least 45% of tree cover. Developers are required to have tree replacement plans approved by county staff prior to any construction. To aid this planning and implementation, the county has provided detailed instructions on what kinds of and sizes of trees are acceptable/appropriate for different situations, how they should be planted, maintained and replaced if the initial planting fails. Questions and comments about trees and the tree ordinance should be directed to the Athens-Clarke County Arborist by calling the Planning Department at 706 613 3515.
March 2026
Why is the CCCA no longer publishing a community directory?
In May of 2024, the CCCA Board made the difficult decision to no longer publish a community directory - the last published directory was 2022. The reason the Board continues to support this decision centers around the risks that the information in the directory could be used to: (1) invade your privacy, (2) support identity theft, (3) lead to scams, and/or (4) enable harassment of members of our community. It is too easy for the directory, in a hard copy or digital format, to be copied and then used and distributed by individuals outside of our community for purposes it was never intended to be used. The Information the CCCA collects on residents; names, phone numbers and emall addresses, are used by CCCA committees to email the monthly newsletters, to send out annual reminders of membership renewal and to help in our neighborhood watch efforts. Periodically we send postcard reminders to both CCCA members and non-members using names and addresses in our database. When asked in 2024, many residents were willing to provide information to the Board only under the condition that the information NOT be published In a distributed directory, resulting In what would have been a very incomplete and practically useless directory.
If you google "community directory" you will find a number of articles extolling the virtues of a directory of neighbor's phone numbers and email addresses. If you read carefully, you find that their "community" is much smailer than Cedar Creek's 659 homes. In these modern times, if you want your neighbors’ contact information you will have to do what was done in the past - go next door, introduce yourself, and ask for it.