By Camie Young
Staff Writer

NORCROSS — Connie Wiggins took a deep breath as a bus loaded with county officials rounded a curve.
“The infamous Buffalo House is up here. Let’s cross our fingers they cleaned it up,” said Wiggins, director of Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful.
Just six weeks ago, county officials drove the same route among some aging areas to evaluate quality-of-life issues.
On Thursday, they were back to find out if a campaign to clean up the streets was successful.
The Buffalo House, a now closed business on Jimmy Carter Boulevard, had been covered in graffiti during the first survey. On Tuesday, it was an example of the results throughout the entire area.
“Hallelujah, they got it covered,” Wiggins said.
But the white clapboard walls still showed signs of the destruction, new paint betraying the graffiti underneath.
That kind of “patchwork” coverage, Wiggins said, is often tagged again.
“It doesn’t look as bad as it has,” she said. But it could be better.
Wiggins said the results of the all-day survey wouldn’t be available until today, but she said she’s already seen a marked improvement in the areas where police concentrated.
As part of Operation: Fixing Broken Windows, a team of police and code enforcement officers blitzed some of the most troubled areas of the county — areas where businessmen already had banded together to help — Jimmy Carter Boulevard, U.S. Highway 78 and the area surrounding Gwinnett Place Mall.
Officers concentrated on the aesthetics, county ordinances regarding litter, graffiti, property maintenance, landscaping, illegal dumping and illegal signs.
“It’s kind of exciting to see all this come together,” Wiggins said. “The problems we are looking at aren’t huge ... yet. But they will get that way if we don’t look at them.”
Lt. Mindy Bayreuther is in charge of the police officers on the task force. She said she could see a difference within days of starting the campaign. Many business owners cleaned up their property immediately. Often, they weren’t aware of the laws.
During the tour of business corridors, Bayreuther also guided the bus down neighborhood streets.
Her officers began circulating information in troubled subdivisions a week ago, so the survey Thursday would act as a benchmark for those areas.
While circling through the Dove Trace subdivision, the bus came to a halt in front of one house where the broken windows were more than metaphorical. Nearly every column on the front porch railing had been broken, and graffiti covered the garage doors and both sides of the vacant home.
“It was pretty bad to see it on someone’s house,” said Sgt. Gil White, a corrections officer participating in the survey. “You wouldn’t want graffiti on your house. It’s crazy.”
In the neighborhood, some well-manicured lawns bordered yards with grass more than a foot high. Junk cars were parked in the grass and, in the gutters of some houses, pine trees were growing.
“There are hard-working people living in this neighborhood, and this is their main investment,” Wiggins said, explaining that graffiti and other issues can drive down property values by 15 to 20 percent. “Not to mention, it’s a magnet for crime.”
Gwinnett Support Services Deputy Director Steve North said he is working on a report card for the areas where Operation: Fixing Broken Windows is concentrated. Then, the county can update people on the efforts monthly.
Wiggins said the quality of life survey could eventually be spread throughout Gwinnett.
“It’s opened all of our eyes to not just look at one problem but to see how they all relate to each other,” Wiggins said. “It helps us measure progress over time, and it helps us determine what works or doesn’t work.”