Neighbor's house a blog-worthy eyesore

TAMPA - Sandwiched between older-style, nice houses at 6001 and 6005 Otis Avenue in Tampa, sits the house at 6003 Otis Avenue.

It’s white, but dirty. It’s standing, but falling apart. It used to be well-kept, but not anymore.

Carolyn Butcher lives next door to 6003 Otis Avenue. For four years, she has watched it fall apart.

The lawn doesn’t get mowed. The house needs to be painted. There’s trash in the front yard, including a toilet. There’s a pile of garbage in the back yard too, mostly wood.

And then this July, Butcher said there was raw sewage in the backyard.

“It is awful. It is truly awful,” Butcher said.

Butcher is worried about the effect the house is having on her property value. So is the neighbor on the other side of 6003 Otis. Together, they run a blog ( http://6003otisave.blogspot.com/ ) which documents their dealings with the house next door.

The blog’s main target is code enforcement for the City of Tampa. While code enforcement has fixed some of the issues next door, like the raw sewage, they have not done enough to keep Butcher happy.

“All of a sudden I need them, and they’re not there,” Butcher said.

After a phone call from ABC Action News, two workers from code enforcement came to the house Friday afternoon.

Larry Canalejo, a supervisor with code enforcement, said the accumulation of trash is a code enforcement violation, as are some of the problems with the windows in the backyards.

But the lack of paint and tall grass, while unsightly, aren’t code violations. However, Canalejo said they did plan to get some charitable organizations to help clean up the yard and paint the house this fall.

He added that the homeowner, who is in bad health, had not paid his taxes in two years.

Butcher said she was somewhat pleased after meeting with code enforcement Friday afternoon. She is hopeful more will get done to fix the problems. But she is still angry she has had to go to these lengths.

“I have to do a blog, scream at people, send letters to city councilmen and county commissioners to get help,” Butcher said.