Collier County considers legal action against nuisance construction site

An eyesore in Collier County could spark a legal battle soon. WINK News has told you about a pile of rocks that has upset neighbors near Santa Barbara and Davis Boulevards for almost a year.

Work at the site was halted in November, but the man in charge of operations has passed away.

WINK News anchor Rachel Cox-Rosen spoke to Collier County Commission chair Bill McDaniel about what’s next for the pile of rocks. McDaniel said patience is essential but also he said he’s certain that the pile will be gone “in a short period of time.” The how and the when weren’t answered.

Who wouldn’t enjoy a nice bike ride on a sunny day in Collier County? Eric Hess says he certainly enjoys it. “I ride a lot. I love riding my bike,” Hess said.

But Hess rides here slightly less serene when he approaches Davis Blvd. at Santa Barbara. This pile of rocks, concrete and twisted metal have sat at this intersection for about a year.

“My thoughts are I wish they’d actually do something with it and clean it up as I said. If they’re not going to actually put anything in, it would just be nice if they were to get rid of all the rubbish,” said Hess.

Next door community, The Firano at Naples, is also sick of the rubbish. Scott Nyquist is the president of the board of directors for Firano at Naples. “We find it to be very frustrating to drive by what appears to be like a city dump sitting in the middle of East Naples sitting basically right behind all of our homes,” said Nyquist.

Cathy Novy is the chair of the Taormina Reserve committee and said, “Our goal is to have the concrete removed not crushed on-site,” said Novy.

“They have had an extraordinary amount of imposition put upon them because of the construction because of the noise because of the dust,” said McDaniel.

Commission Chair Bill McDaniel hears the complaints and says the commission will take action. The first step is finding out if the property owner is in compliance with county ordinances.

“Once that determination is made, then we’ve authorized the county attorney, if necessary, to bring legal action. And make sure that the property owners do within the confines of our land development code to bring the site back into conformity with our code,” McDaniel said.

Cox-Rosen spoke to property owner Harrison Hubschman off-camera, and he’s with Highlands Property. He says they’re in conformity with Collier County code.

He also says they’re working with the county to resolve the issue. By that, he means finishing what they started and crushing all this concrete to fill. The timeline on that is not clear, especially after the death of their contractor Bobby Cadenhead.