Peachtree City's building department last week experienced a "classic example" of why codes to manage older structures have become necessary in the relatively young city, says building official Tom Carty.

An unoccupied residence at 105 Fortress Drive in the Wynnmeade subdivision was found by department personnel to be in "severe disrepair" and was "posted as unsafe" more than two weeks ago, Carty said. On Feb. 10, Code Enforcement Officer Tami Babb discovered that a carport-storage room at the house had collapsed to the ground "in calm air, no storm wind or anything," Carty noted.

Carty said when he inspected the garage collapse, he found also that the back deck had begun to separate from the house. He called in the help of the Peachtree City Fire Department to pull the deck down, and then "taped off" the site for safety reasons.

Carty says the last owners of record were Jimmy and Lori Adams, but a registered letter to them at another address was returned. The department is researching county records to discover a mortgage bank, he added. He said neighbors told him that no one had lived in the house since December.

"It's the perfect example," Carty said, "of why we need those codes for unsafe structures. If we had been able to tell the previous occupants or owners that we could require them to make repairs before the building got this bad, this would never have happened."

The Peachtree City Council was to have approved the new codes at its meeting last night.

Carty also encouraged Peachtree City residents, particularly those in older homes, to make sure that their outside decks are properly attached to the house. A number of decks have fallen recently in the metro area, causing serious injuries, he added.