MACON, Ga. — Some people from Macon's Unionville neighborhood say they're fed up with people turning their community into the city dump. The county says the location has had a long history of being a site for illegal dumping.
One spot in Unionville looks more like a landfill. Tires, mattresses, couches, old TVs, fencing, and plywood are just some of the items scattered beside and across this public street.
"It nothing but a city dump," said Velda Royal, a longtime Unionville resident.
The county says Bells Terrace off Pio Nono Avenue has become a hot spot for illegal dumping.
"It's just ridiculous that people take their trash and dump it in this neighborhood. All of this trash, take it to the dump, or set it outside your house and let them pick it up," said Maryanne Deshazier, a Unionville resident.
The county says they cleaned up the street just five months ago, but now, the street is worse than the time before.
"To see [the street] totally blocked off, this is the worst I've seen this area," said Pat Raines, director of the Macon-Bibb County Solid Waste Department.
On Tuesday, Macon-Bibb County Solid Waste Department was back to clean it up.
Raines says it's going to take three to four trips to clean it all up. Each truck carries around 3.5 tons.
Raines added that this trash may not be coming from anyone in the community.
"Because we know on other occasions we have had people from other areas picking a community to come in and dump," Raines said.
Royal says as illegal dumping has gotten worse, it's impacted her community like with crime and blight.
"I used to walk these streets. I don't even walk these streets no more," Royal said.
Longtime Unionville residents say they're happy the county is cleaning it up, but that they know people will just go back to dumping illegally in their neighborhood like they've done time and time again. Royal and Deshazier say they're calling on the sheriff's office and the county to monitor the area more.
"What they need to do is put some cameras out here in these trees and hide them," Deshazier said.
Royal says they should cite people more often for dumping and also raise the fine.
Raines says as a reminder, every Macon-Bibb County citizen is allowed to dump up to 500 pounds each month at the county landfill. She says by getting the word out about this, hopefully, it will reduce the amount of illegal dumping.
Raines says if you see illegal dumping, get the person's license plate number and contact the Bibb County Sheriff's Office.
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