COLUMBUS, Ohio — Residents in Franklin Park say they're proud to be a part of a thriving community, but some say it's bad apples that are leaving dumping sites that are a blight to the neighborhood.
The residents say a dumping pile has been building up behind a property on Oak Street for nearly two months with soiled mattresses, tables and desks, stacked on top of each other for several yards.
"It's a nice area and you come by and you see this dump pile,” says Chris Phillips. "It's like, what's going on, why can't we move this? What's the city doing about it? Is someone going to come out and pick it up? Why is it there? Who put it there?"
Multiple neighbors tell 10TV they called 311 in December and asked to have the pile of junk removed but still nothing happened.
10TV contacted the Department of Public Service and Code Enforcement on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for public service says the department has only received one official written complaint made on Dec. 23. Public Service says this is believed to be a move-out situation, where the property owner would be held accountable. Resident Abe Zowadni shares the problem is that no one is being held accountable.
“I think it sends a message to other people in the neighborhood, like oh you can dump here, or you can get away with things around here and those could be criminals even,” Zawodni said.
Regardless, residents say they want to know why the build-up has been there for two months, and nothing has been done.
The spokeswoman for Public Service says a solid waste inspector investigated on Dec. 28, five days after the written complaint was received. The inspector then posted a notice on the property letting the owner know he had 72 hours to remove the junk.
On Dec. 30, the inspector saw the junk was moved from the alley onto the property and at this point Public Service referred the case to Code Enforcement.
Code Enforcement confirms they are aware of the situation, but did not answer why nothing has been done.
Both departments say they are aware of the situation, and the junk should be removed by the end of the day.
If there’s a pile of trash on city or private property that concerns you, you can call the city of Columbus and put in a service request through 311 online, by email at 311@columbus.gov and by phone at 614-645-3111.