ATLANTA — A couple is trying to get the city's attention to stop people from dumping trash near their southwest Atlanta home - now they've been cited for the waste.
This is a problem they said has plagued Cedar Island Drive for months. One day it's tossed tires, and another day it's old mattresses. Larry and Rekay Johnson have surveillance cameras that show perpetrators' faces day in and day out hauling trash onto their property.
"They just literally roll down their window or unload their truck and drop trash and run," Larry Johnson said. "We've called the city numerous times about it."
The homeowners said the city of Atlanta had not helped them at all and had even cited them for the garbage others had left behind. The couple provided 11Alive with a video showing the many times they've called 311.
"It’s extremely frustrating because it puts the responsibility for the crime on our family," Larry Johnson said.
Larry and Rekay Johnson are concerned that the dumping has attracted stray dogs, rodents and coyotes, who they believe took some of their chickens.
"We used to allow them to run around our yard, but we could do that anymore," Rekay Johnson said. We lost like four."
Two days ago, following months of contacting the city, the Johnsons' said they received a response, essentially blaming them for the mess.
"It’s extremely frustrating because we have to come out here and pretty much clean up someone else’s mess," Rekay Johnson said.
11Alive reached out to the City of Atlanta and the public works department, but neither has responded. 11Alive also reached out to begin showing up on Tuesday afternoon to clean up the mess city councilwoman for District 10, who forwarded our request to code enforcement. Trucks began showing up on Tuesday from the sanitation department, collecting photos of the garbage.