Nursery closed after city deems it ‘illegal’
Precious Moments Nursery, located at 3776 Clairmont Road, was closed by the Brookhaven Fire Marshal May 8 after it was cited and deemed illegal.
“This was a collaborative effort between several departments, including Building Inspections, Code Enforcement and Community Development,” said Brookhaven Fire Marshal Joe Burge. “Working together, we were able to keep these toddlers out of harm’s way.”
According to Burge, the establishment had safety issues that include lack of a sprinkler system, obstructed ingress and egress and lack of fire barriers between its two floors. Burge also said that the nursery never obtained a certificate of occupancy from Georgia and “they filed a forged document with the state of Georgia.”
“It is unconscionable that a business would put babies at risk without proper fire safety precautions in place. The reason Brookhaven did not issue a CO [certificate of occupancy] for this building is because it did not meet the bare minimum requirements of safety,” said City Manager Christian Sigman.
“The Georgia Department of Early Care called us to inquire about their paperwork, which is how we were alerted to the problem,” said Burge.
The nursery was closed May 8 at 5 p.m. after the facility was issued a stop work order and a citation for occupancy without a certificate of occupancy. According to Brookhaven officials, a total of 15 children were at the location at the time of its closing, most of whom were younger than 18 months old.
The Champion Newspaper asked Precious Moments Nursery for comment but hasn’t received a response.
The nursery’s Facebook page is liked by 69 individuals, with a few reviews.
“I felt so lucky to find this little gem…They were so good with my son and with me, the clueless new mom. We hated to leave when our time was up. I recommend them to all new parents in the area,” stated one of the reviews on the nursey’s Facebook page.
