PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Real estate broker Susan Lamerton could have found a house in many different parts of Pasco County.
“But I prefer to live here in Moon Lake because of the peace. The quiet,” she said.
But mixed in with that peace and quiet are some tenants and property owners who Lamerton said are ruining it for everyone else.
“And there’s sometimes I get a little scared. But I’m not going to allow anyone to frighten me out of the community or out of my job,” said Lamerton.
She’s called code compliance several times on her next-door neighbor.
“I don’t want to have to turn people in, and then we play mean neighbors to each other. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about having a code enforcement following it.”
Compliance officer Damion Cooper grew up in Pasco County and has made it his mission to clean up Moon Lake even though some people won’t cooperate.
“The tenants may be aggressive. We are a form of government. So they see us as the bad guys,” said Cooper.
He’s been dealing with this home for more than a year.
Cooper said he hopes people will fix things after a warning before he has to give out citations that can lead to fines.
This property may look like it's overrun with junk, but Cooper said it’s actually gotten better because debris was blocking the road.
“As you can tell, the road is actually driveable at this point. The property may not look like it, but it was a lot worse than what it looks like now,” Cooper said.
In May, the county is holding a Moon Lake Community Clean-up that will include the use of dumpsters and free waste drop-off at the landfill.
Cooper said he’s seeing the improvement here.
“There’s been multiple properties that have been demoed. Multiple properties that have been cleaned up. And a lot of them that get new homes that look like this, that look immaculate. I don’t think Moon Lake is. It’s definitely savable,” said Cooper.
