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Neighbors Do Not Dig The Dirt

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By ANGELA DELGADO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - When Fran Boster bought her home on Cluster Avenue, she didn't realize one of her neighbors would be a several-story-high dirt pile.

Boster, who found the home online, arrived from Virginia two weeks ago to find the dirt pile next to her new house.

"They just dumped it there three weeks ago," said Boster, 60. "I think it's a mess. I want it gone."

The dirt pile was brought in by Jason's Hauling by order of Flatiron Construction Corp., and it comes from the Tampa Airport interchanges work site. The work at the airport began in 2005 and is scheduled to end in 2010, according to the company's Web site.

Its placement on the 3-acre property at Sheldon Road and Cluster Avenue is temporary, but project manager Milton Weatherred could not disclose how long it would be there.

Donna Giberson works across the street from the site at the dentist office of David J. Lee. Although no one at the office was told the dirt pile would begin building up next door, no one at the office is bothered by it.
Giberson did say, though, that she was surprised by its size.

"The dirt is so high you can see it above the buildings," she said.
Giberson and her coworkers aren't worried because they know it's temporary, but Rosa Tavarez feels differently.

Tavarez, 51, has lived in her Cluster Avenue house for four years, and three weeks ago, the view from her front door became a big dirt pile.

"For me, it's not good because it brings in dirt, and the wind will bring in more dust," she said in Spanish. "I want them to take it away."

"I talked to them, and they said they're doing it for six months," she said. "If they don't get rid of it in six months, our neighbors said we'll talk to the owner of the property."
Boster said her neighbors are thinking of drawing up a petition to remove the dirt. She said they want to get it out of their community before a hurricane hits.

"Here I look out, and all I see is dirt," Tavarez said. "I don't think they should do that in an area where there are neighbors."

Reporter Angela Delgado can be reached at (813) 865-1501 or adelgado@tampatrib.com.

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