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Construction site causing environmental and safety concerns for neighbors

Posted at 11:11 AM, Oct 27, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-27 11:11:17-04

COLLIER COUNTY — We’re hearing from people living near a construction site in Naples who say it’s starting to endanger the environment and their safety.

The property on Santa Barbara Blvd. is being used to crush concrete right next to several housing communities. People living nearby are calling on Collier County to do something about it, but after speaking with the company Cadenhead Construction, it tells us it's completely within the law.

We watched as truckloads of concrete were delivered to the site Tuesday to be crushed, all only feet from Catherine Novy’s home in the Firano housing development.

“This is a residential area and they’re operating it as a city dump," said Novy.

Novy said the work goes on every day from 7:00 in the morning until 7:00 at night.

“The amount of dust, soot, noise. The noise level is ridiculous," said Novy.

We also spoke with Janice Townsend, who lives just south of the construction site in the Seychelles housing community. She said she hit a large chunk of concrete in the middle of the road and was almost seriously hurt.

"I swerved, at which time the rock hit the back tire. Caused a flat tire and also actually cut an entire big gash in the rim of my vehicle," said Townsend.

She said that crash ended up costing her $1,200, but she’s worried it could cost someone else their life.

“I’m a very cautious driver. If it had been somebody else, one of my neighbors that might have been elderly, could have been killed," said Townsend.

We spoke with Bobby Cadenhead on the phone, the owner of Cadenhead Construction. He didn’t want to be recorded, but he told us he is complying with all regulations from the Department of Environmental Protection.

He also said he crushes the concrete on-site because it saves him approximately $2 million instead of having it crushed somewhere else and shipped in. He said he plans to have all concrete shipped in by November 1st, and all crushing done by January 1st.

Novy said, after two years of living next to the site, she doesn’t buy it.

“I question the legitimacy of him telling you that he’ll stop bringing stuff in in November, and stopping by January 1st. I can’t fathom that’s going to be the case, because it hasn’t been for two years," said Novy.

Cadenhead said the crushed concrete is going to be used for construction on the site. He said he has plans to build hundreds of condo units, and more than 260,000 square feet of retail space.

Novy said that’s something she and her neighbors will fight to keep from happening.