Neighbors concerned about hoarding at abandoned home in Palm Springs

UPDATE 6:38 p.m.

For more than six years, Jim Esposito has called the Tahquitz River Estates neighborhood in Palm Springs home sweet home.

But he said throughout that time, he’s been dealing with something right behind his back yard.

“Just junk,” Esposito said. “I don’t know where she gets it from, or what she intends to do with it. It’s in the house. It’s outside the house. It used to be in the front of the house. It’s now even worse in the back than it used to be.”

Esposito and other neighbors like Joe McCowin said they’ve been speaking up to city officials about the house on North Riverside Drive, with sights and issues not common in their neck of the woods.

“We see criminals come and go on a regular basis,” McCowin said. “The police have been very great about coming and cooperating, but they of course usually miss them when they come out, even though they’re out in five or ten minutes or so.”

Esposito and other neighbors said the house appears to have been abandoned for about a year, and that city building officials have opened up a case after they neighbors filed a complaint in March.

“We were made aware that there was some hoarding, and storage of items in the backyard,” Palm Springs Director of Building and Safety Jim Zicaro said. “We talked with the property owner, and they had agreed that they were going to remove those items.”

Neighbors said they hope to continue to see a change of scenery soon.

“The issue is you just can’t walk away from this, it’s something that has to be monitored until it’s resolved,” Esposito said.

Zicaro said the homeowner is being compliant by agreeing to clean up the property.

He said the city does not have an ordinance regulating items in a back yard that can’t be seen from public property.

McCowin said he’s planning on addressing this issue with Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon.

———-

Some residents are concerned about a case of hoarding at a Palm Springs home.

Neighbors said the house on North Riverside Drive in the Tahquitz River Estates neighborhood appears to have been abandoned for about a year. They said various items can be seen laying all throughout the property.

Residents nearby said the house poses a potential fire hazard and has been the center of health concerns, including odor and rodent infestation.

Video: Zak Dahlheimer describes neighbors’ concerns

Tonight on KESQ News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2, Zak Dahlheimer speaks to code enforcement officials to hear why the problem has been ongoing for such a long time, and what’s being done now to settle neighbor’s concerns.