Neighbors fed up with abandoned house in Cape Coral

An abandoned house in a Cape Coral neighborhood is becoming an eyesore, and neighbors are calling it unacceptable.

The house is along SW 18th Avenue and has been abandoned for years, according to neighbors, who want the city to do something about it.

The yard is unmowed and overgrown with weeds, untrimmed shrubs block the front door, and two cars with flat tires sit in the driveway. A notice the city left on the garage door states the grass is too high.

Venessa Dalton said she’s sick and tired of looking at it, and tired of having to make calls to the city.

“There’s not really a lot of upkeep. The pool as far as I know hasn’t been attended to since 2013. We continuously see letters over there on their door to do something about it. We’ve called multiple times.”

Dalton has lived across the street for almost a decade and said no one has lived in the house since she moved in.

“My fellow neighbors and I were concerned about the animals that are back there, the mosquitoes, things of that nature, and not keeping it up, and it certainly doesn’t help the house values in the area.”

Neighbors said that just this week, crews came by to cut the grass in the front yard. In the back, the grass is overgrown and the pool lanai is damaged.

Chris Morgan, who lives next door, said he likes the quiet but does admit it isn’t pretty.

“It’s an attractive nuisance. I don’t wanna be overly concerned but yeah, kids can kind of break in there and do some more damage and kind of get hurt or whatever, so it would be good if maybe somebody can come by and turn it around, rehab it a little bit.”

The home has racked up thousands of dollars in fines since 2018 from the City of Cape Coral. Many of those complaints related to the high grass.

“How many of you would let this happen across the street for years?” Dalton asked.

The city said liens have been placed against the property for unpaid fees. WINK News tried reaching out to the listed homeowner, but we did not get a response.