Vacant lots turns neighborhood into dumping ground

Vacant lots in one Palm Springs neighborhood became a dumping ground for other people’s trash. Residents were so fed up they called CBS Local 2 for help.

Who’s responsible for the cleanup?

Resident’s in the North Palm Springs neighborhood Desert Highland say just because they aren’t downtown they still want their community to look nice. However they tell us, they can’t keep it clean without the city’s help.

“Somebody is coming and dumping stuff in,” said resident Thomas Gray.

Gray has called the community home for 50 years.

“It’s very big, messing the neighborhood up, making it look terrible, and we are trying to clean the neighborhood up. The more we clean up, the more people come and dump,” said Gray.

We found several empty lots, some worse than others, with trash, glass, mattresses, thrown in the middle of this community.

“It makes me feel like people aren’t concerned about their community. I think we should be more concerned about our community,” said Gray.

One resident, who didn’t want to be identified, told us he’s made several complaints to the city. “You don’t see this in the center of Palm Springs. You only see this in the northern part of Palm Springs,” he said.

The city of Palm Springs says illegal dumping is an ongoing problem all over the city.

“As those get cleaned up unfortunately over time, it repeats itself, so it’s a repetitive problem that continues and requires our constant vigilance,” said Assistant City Manager Marcus Fuller.

With several of the Desert Highland vacant lots, there is another challenge. Many of them are private property.

“We don’t have the legal right to enter onto private property, so that becomes a code enforcement action, which is unfortunate because it’s a reactive process,” said Fuller.

The city can take legal action to force property owners to clean up. It can be a lengthy and costly process.

Residents also voiced concern about the aging roads in the community. Many couldn’t recall the last time they’ve been repaved.

“They are cracked, they don’t pay attention,” said Gray.

Fuller said that will soon change. Some of the streets in the neighborhood are a part of a $12 million repaving project.

“Worst condition streets first, then they are working their way up the list,” said Fuller.

The repaving project is set to begin in the next few months. Residents should start seeing better roads by the end of the year.