Bartow man has 7 days to clean yard

BARTOW (FOX 13) - The clock is ticking and people who live in Bartow's historic district are watching it with anticipation.  The city has given one of their neighbors one week to clean up his property or he could be fined $500 a day.

"It looks bad. Really bad," commented Mary Loyd. "They should be made to clean it up because it makes all these houses look bad."

It seems like there is everything but the kitchen sink on the lot.  A Christmas tree with an old sofa next to it, tires, a broken beach chair, dishes, and two kittens in a crate.

David Boyette considers himself an antique dealer, and says everything there has value.

"They were either given to me or I found them in the trash," he told FOX 13.

The city says it has tried to get Boyette going, to no avail. It even offered him free dumpsters.

"Nothing was put in the dumpsters, so after a couple of months, we ended up picking them back up," said city spokesman Gregg Lamb.

During the summer, Boyette's house, which was on the property, was devastated by fire. The city told Boyette he had to have the place demolished. When he didn't, the city knocked down the house and
completely cleared the lot.

A few months later, the clutter is back, and growing quickly.

If Boyette doesn't have the property straightened out by next Wednesday, the city could fine him. If that doesn't help, it could eventually go in and clean the place up again at taxpayer expense.