LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — People in Lehigh Acres are raising concerns about illegal dumping and unkempt lots in their community, with county data showing the area has the highest concentration of dumping violations.
Heather Slate has watched piles of trash accumulate in her neighborhood for years, and she says she's had enough.
"Sheer aggravation of seeing so much dumping," Slate said.
According to Slate, the problem has only worsened over the past four years, a claim supported by Lee County data.
"You can live however you want behind your front door when it spills out, now it's my business because now my property value is going down and have some respect for your neighbors," Slate said.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: IS IT ENOUGH?: Despite adding more Lehigh code enforcement officers, violations continue
Slate has filed reports with code enforcement about trash and unkempt lots visible from her backyard. She's particularly concerned about planks of wood and cement that could damage her property.
"We've been through storms, and it's moving around and I'm afraid with hurricane season what's going to happen?" Slate said.
Watch Lehigh Acres Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades explain the County's response:
Lee County's Code Enforcement violation system shows a notice was sent to the property owner, based on Slate's report.
According to Lee County, property owners have 15 days to address violations after accepting a notice. In this case, the deadline is one week away, as the notice was accepted on April 29.
However, Slate believes the county's response time is too slow. She wants to see immediate fines after a week of non-compliance to help fix the issue.
"Seven days clean it up. They could be out here and they can do that when we're talking about three weeks, a month, six months...they're not taking it serious out here because they haven't had to," she said. "There have really not been any repercussions."
Lee County said they hired two additional code enforcement officers this year, bringing the total to nine officers serving the Lehigh Acres area.
Derek Felder, who lives in Lehigh Acres, spoke with Rhoades last week about the same issue, and shares Slate's frustration.
"You're doing stuff but still not enough. We see it in the community. It's still there. There's violations everywhere," Felder said.
Both residents are calling for meaningful change in how the county addresses these violations.
"Just stop doing it. Take your garbage to the dump," Slate said.
When Fox 4 reached out to Lee County about adding more enforcement officers to the area, officials indicated the topic might be discussed at a county commissioners meeting next year.
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