PHOENIX — There are some unwelcome guests in one Central Phoenix neighborhood and the problems are piling up.
"They come and dump trash and couches and wood," says Lindsey Norwood.
Norwood says she sees new junk left in the alley behind her house near 10th and Palm nearly every week.
"They dump all kinds of stuff," she says as she points out an entire sofa she and her neighbors already had to move out of the way.
"Just completely unload and block the path to my house and it’s really frustrating."
The final straw was actually a heap of wood, blocking her driveway as she tried to get home one night back in September.
"We had to physically move heaps of trash out of the way just so I could get my car out of this alley."
She recently posted on Nextdoor about her concerns and found some of her neighbors were fed up, too. At least one has already filed a complaint with the city.
"This is our alley," says Micky Santa Maria, who lives across the way from Lindsey. "And somebody’s messing up my alley."
Micky wants to catch people in the act, so he set up his own camera outside his home, where he's been for 30 years.
"It’s been continuous."
He’s complained to the city in the past but says he wound up facing a fine for other people’s junk piling up. Sometimes he pays out of pocket to get it removed.
"Fortunately now I’ve got some cameras up and I’m going to start defending our alley."
Last year, the City of Phoenix put up hidden cameras to catch people in the act.
On average, the city says it receives about 185 calls/complaints on illegal dumping per week. That number has gone up during the pandemic due to people placing their bulk trash outside earlier than scheduled.
If you're caught dumping your trash, you could be fined anywhere from $200-$2500. The cost of cleaning will be added to the fine.
To report a problem in your neighborhood, check out the resources you can call.