COCOA, Fla. – No one wants to live next to an eyesore, but one man says he’s got two blighted vacant homes next to where he lives.
John Hilton, 77, says he’s been waiting for a couple of years for the property owners or the county to clean them up or knock them down.
“You can see this place over here,” the veteran showed News 6 reporter James Sparvero. “You can see the condition of it.”
Behind locked gates with private property signs, one of the houses on Paradise Lane is cluttered with junk like coolers, laundry hampers, and old children’s playsets.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
“That one’s not much better,” Hilton pointed to the other house he’s complaining about directly across the street.
That one has overgrown grass and a partially collapsed roof.
Hilton said he reported the homes to the county last year.
“I called the county, and they said, ‘Well, somebody’s bought the property’,” he said. “The county keeps giving them fines. The guy keeps paying the fines. Why should they do anything to kill the golden goose, so to speak?”
Hilton said now he’d like to see the owners or the county knock the houses down.
“If you’re not gonna use it, and you’re not gonna fix it, tear it down,” he said.
News 6 was unable to reach the owners Friday, and the county did not reply to a request for comment by the end of the day, either.
Through the property appraiser’s website, 2012 pictures that show how nice the houses looked back then when they were taken care of.
Hilton said he’s not considering moving.
He said other parts of his street are still nice, and he enjoys taking care of some of the animals in his neighborhood, like a litter of kittens he was feeding Friday.