Residents in a posh neighbourhood were left fuming after a mountain of rubbish, in places 6ft high, accumulated outside one of their neighbour's home.
A gargantuan clean-up operation was launched as city crews from multiple agencies arrived to tackle the huge heap of garbage, which residents say is crawling with rats, outside the Los Angeles home which sits between two multimillion-dollar homes. The property has been a dumping ground for years and although conditions improved after the homeowner was issued a fine eight years ago, the situation has got worse in the past year.
Median home prices in the affluent neighbourhood of Fairfax are around $3.42 million (£2.7m), according to Realtor.com. Neighbours worry it's a hazard but also worry about the impacts of the foul smells coming from the property.
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The rubbish piled high outside the propertyNeighbour Rebecca Yale told ABC7: "It's been getting worse and worse, and the smell's been getting really bad, and we've noticed more flies and insects." Another Fairfax District resident Rob Meyerhoff told the paper: "I haven't noticed the smell but I have heard of rodents and other animals in the neighbourhood. So I think that's obviously an issue, and I can only imagine what conditions are like for him inside."
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"I think it's just on a daily basis that the homeowner's just collecting things and putting them in the yard," he added. Many are concerned about the homeowner's well-being living amid the dumped rubbish. The property, just off Melrose Avenue, is covered almost entirely with hundreds of bags of trash.
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Neighbours are also worried about the homeownerSpeaking to reporters outside the property, Mayor Karen Bass said: "You can expect the city agencies to come out -- L.A. (Sanitation), Building and Safety. You can expect to see them today. And as far as I'm concerned, they will begin removing this today."
On Wednesday, she joined by Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, who represents Fairfax, travelled to the home declaring it a “public health emergency.” Neighbours have reported the homeowner stays in an RV around the corner.
He was ordered to remove the rubbish in 2014 and later the city filed two misdemeanour criminal charges for noncompliance before the case was dismissed in 2019. The homeowner's sister, Leah, has told ABC7 she and her brother have a strained relationship and she worries that, despite the clean up, it's just a matter of time before it goes back to the condition it's in now.
"Since I bought it at one time and gave it to him, I would really like to get it back so I can fix it," she said. "I can get it in good condition."
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