HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Vega family loves where they are on Young Road in Hillsborough County, near Plant City. They're licensed monkey breeders, and it's the perfect location for them.
"We have high-dollar people come in here," Al Vega said.
However, there is one problem. The road it takes to get to them.
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"We've had country stars wanting their pets, and they come to get them, and they're like, What is wrong with this road?" he joked.
Victoria Vega felt drawn to reach out to ABC Action News after a story about repairs to drainage pipes in Westshore aired. She connected with Reporter Jada Williams after, asking her to come check out their neighborhood.
"It's great that the county comes out and fixes people's roads and part of their driveways... The problem is that I keep getting this email back to me saying it has been resolved," Al Vega explained.
It's not just the road they live on that concerns them. It's also the surrounding roads, such as Sam Allen.
"It's very bumpy. It has wash-out spots. They have repeatedly tried to repair it, but it has not been satisfactory," he explained.
And with every project completed that isn't in their neighborhood, their frustration grows.
"We pay a lot of taxes," Al Vega stated. "When it's our turn, it's simply our turn. Please fix our road."
Cheryl Ernst, a neighbor, echoed the Vega's discontent.
"This is ridiculous, because I keep getting this wonderful tax real estate bill every year, that's triple what it used to be... Roads back there were always maintained, always taken care of for less money every year. So I don't understand," she stated, drawing a comparison to her previous home in Virginia.
Ernst, like her neighbors, has reached out to the county.
"When we first moved in and I saw the potholes, I went on the Hillsborough County site to see what I could do about them,” she explained. "They came and filled some of them, but they don’t fill them all the way. With the amount of real estate tax I'm paying, which is triple what I paid in Virginia, I feel this road should be maintained better."
Both say they're fed up with the discrepancies between their road and others in the area that appear to receive regular maintenance.
Ernst pointed out roads like Knights Griffin, stating, "It’s beautiful, it’s wide, it’s paved smooth. But then you have these kinds of roads.” She added that, despite repeated requests for repaving, the county has not included Young Road on its schedule for improvements, leading to further frustration.
The neighborhood's growth isn't helping either.
"They're building houses. There's a lot of traffic now. They have gone ahead and done the four lane at Alexander road, but they stopped. They haven't come down this road at all. And if you go down that road after a while, you think you're on a roller coaster. It starts drooping and moving around on you, lots of potholes, lots of potholes, and it's just not feasible," Vega said.
Recent heavy rains have also highlighted the drainage issues.
"This front here was about 30% full of water. Last hurricane, it was a lake right up to the house," Vega said.
He's not hopeful that they'll see any drainage improvements soon, however.
"We'd be happy if we just get a half decent paved road to be able to come in and go as we can storm water drainage. I don't see it happening out here in the country, but it would be great if they figured something out."
We reached out to the county to inquire about plans to address the road. Here's their response:
Young Road is owned and maintained by Hillsborough County. However, we do not have any active service requests or work orders currently in place related to resurfacing or flooding at the location in question.
Hillsborough County Public Works maintains 7,400 lane-miles of roadway and routinely evaluate more than 27,000 individual road segments on a three-year cycle to identify deficiencies and plan repairs ranging from debris removal and patching to full depth reconstruction.
Residents may report concerns about Hillsborough County’s transportation or stormwater infrastructure by emailing PWCustomerResolution@HCFL.go or calling (813) 635-5400.
Ernst added that while the county has patched holes several times, persistent requests for repaving ultimately go unanswered. "They've come since I've lived here a couple of years to patch the holes three or four times... I always say, are you going to repave? Well, we're sorry you're not on the books for this year or 2025, or 2026,” she said.
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