City-owned lot site of illegal dumping - WISN Milwaukee

City-owned lot site of illegal dumping

Neighbors say they've complained for weeks of mattresses and furniture

A vacant city-owned lot on 20th Street near Clybourn Street has become a mattress and furniture graveyard.

"It's just been like a bunch of trash just piling up, like laundry, mattresses, furniture and stuff. It just seems to be a breeding ground for it," said Madison Hoisington, who lives in an apartment building next door.

Dozens of mattresses, box springs, chairs, couches and other furniture items litter the lot. Most appear to have been discarded recently.

"It's kind of like people are realizing that they can kind of get away with it so it seems like people are following the lead of it, they realize they can dump their stuff there. So now it's kind of accumulating," said neighbor Mark Choinski.

Growing on, what neighbors say, is an almost daily basis.

"It brings this neighborhood down. And it makes things look real bad," said Cheryl Williams, who lives across the street from the site.

Residents say they've complained to the city of Milwaukee for months only to learn the lot is actually owned by the city and has been for 25 years.

"Recently, it's been getting worse. I don't know where it all keeps coming from," Hoisington said. "I didn't know whose lot it was. I mean, they come pick up the trash right behind it, so you'd think they might notice it."

Neighbors fear the longer city isn't taking action on their own property, the worse it will get.

"It's attracting more and more attention to be able to dump more stuff there so, if we leave it for another couple of months, I'm sure it's going to keep piling up," Choinski said.

Late Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Milwaukee Department of City Development responded to an inquiry from WISN 12 News regarding the lot. He responded, "Our team was very recently notified of the illegal dumping at the site. We’ve notified our contractor of this matter and they should be cleaning up the lot soon.”

Neighbors say they'll be keeping tabs on it, too.