JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Some Murray Hill residents are fed up with what they’re calling unsafe homes in their area, causing problems in their neighborhood.
News4JAX spoke to a few neighbors who wished to remain anonymous and said the two houses that are suspected of illegal activity are located on Kingsbury Street.
“Absolute madness,” said a man who wanted to remain anonymous out of fear that his family would be retaliated against.
He said that madness includes illegal activity happening day and night.
He and others we spoke with believed squatters lived at both, and that one home was being used as a drug house.
“I’ve seen someone come out and ride a bike with black tape around their elbow,” said one concerned neighbor. “Literally passed out in the street.”
He and other neighbors said this isn’t the type of activity they want around their children, and have called police several times for help.
According to documents, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has responded to one house 15 times from the beginning of the year to Oct. 19.
The calls ranged from squatting to drug investigation to a wellness check, and they’ve responded to the other home 58 times during the same time period for similar calls.
News4JAX also reached out to the City of Jacksonville to find out the number of citations each home received.
The city did not immediately respond; however, while we were on the street, we did see someone from the city place a citation on the fence.
“Very upset, very afraid, and we’re actually thinking about moving,” the neighbor said.
To get to the bottom of that man’s concerns, News4JAX tried reaching out to the owners of these homes.
We were only able to get in contact with one homeowner.
Flight Builders, which builds affordable homes, said it owns one of the properties and bought it this summer. They added that they’re doing everything they can to gain control of the house from the squatters who made it difficult for them and surveyors to do their job.
They also mentioned they’re waiting on the city to issue a demo permit, which neighbors on this street hoped would help with some of the problems.
News4JAX also asked JSO what people can do in these situations.
The sheriff’s office responded in part, saying:
“We encourage them to continue reporting what they’re seeing and documenting. Please understand that investigations take time, so there may not be an immediate resolution. We also suggest they avoid confronting squatters, for safety purposes.”