Debris dumped on North Fort Myers yard stalls family’s urgent move

One woman in North Fort Myers has no idea why her yard has become a dumpster in her neighborhood.

She told WINK News reporter Maddie Herron that she came home from an out-of-town trip and found her grass littered with debris.

The mess is on Lake View Boulevard, which intersects with Orange Grove Boulevard, and the homeowner said she needs everything cleaned up so she can sell her house.

The couple has no clue who dropped all the debris off, which is frustrating when they are getting ready to put a for-sale sign in their front yard.

Paul and Julie Brenia are in a race to sell their North Fort Myers home. They were ecstatic to hear it suffered no damage while they were away for Hurricane Milton.

That is until, “My neighbor texted me a picture and said, look at what’s in your front yard,” said Paul.

Neighbors say clean-up crews dumped it on Brenia’s front lawn; a mountain of densely packed branches and palm fronds.

“If I was a buyer coming to look at a house with this in the front, I would say, ‘Wow, this house was hit hard with a hurricane. I’m not going to buy it,” he said.

The eye-sore has paused their moving plans, but they have no time to waste.

“We need to sell this quickly so that I can take care of my mom,” said Julie.

Julie’s mother, Wanda, was diagnosed with late-stage Alzheimer’s. She lives in a nursing home two and a half hours away.

She said, “Now, it is my honor to take care of her.”

The debris stands in between Julie and her mother’s full-time care.

“When we saw that, we thought, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t want to be them!'” said one of the Brenia’s neighbors, Tim White.

White lucked out, debris-free, at his home a few doors down while his neighbors took on the unwanted yard decor.

Messy piles he and his wife watched trucks build up but never remove.

“They’ve just been moving it all around!” White said. “They actually just had a little front loader with the claw on the front that moved everything around.”

Desperate for answers, Paul called county, state and federal agencies Tuesday. After nine hours on the phone, he said nobody could tell when or how the debris would be removed.

“We try not to get stressed out about the small stuff. This is small stuff. But again, just the worry factor, the cost, the time away from each other,” said Julie. “It’s not worth it to us to have to do that when this is such an easy fix.”

WINK News contacted both FEMA and Lee County to find out who is responsible for this curbside mess and what will happen next.

A spokesperson from Lee County responded, saying they have staff looking into this.

The Brenias will continue to make the hours-long drive back and forth for their loved one until they can finally put their home on the market.