LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — About 200 Lake County homeowners are getting a break from a neighbor who sprays sewage as fertilizer. The city of Orlando pays the Showcase of Citrus to take some of the city's treated sewage, but some homeowners said the smell got so bad their subdivision sued.
A compromise could give homeowners some relief.
Homeowner Michael Brown said the last few years in the Tradd's Landing subdivision have been expensive.
"We had a special assessment last year. We had to pay the board money for HOA to fight this case," Brown said.
The case is against a citrus grove that is next door. The owners fertilize some of their land with treated sewage.
The city of Orlando pays grower John Arnold to take it. Some homeowners said it made a stink and they sued, but at a meeting of the Lake County Commission the two sides agreed the operation could continue, just not so close to the homes.
"A couple hundred acre concession with the local neighborhood. We want to be good neighbors," Arnold said.
But not every neighbor is happy.
"It smells like a big septic system," property owner Paul Ondis said.
Ondis also owns land next to one of Arnold's fields; one is near some wetlands.
"It smells and they're basically polluting the green swamp," Ondis said.
Ondis has taken his complaints to state environmental officials, code enforcement and, Tuesday, to the county commission, which reissued the permit that allows Arnold to spread the treated sewage.
"We've been running a perfectly legal operation out there since 1989. He has a problem with the odor? Maybe you should have checked out the farming situation that was going on out there before you bought your land," Arnold said.
A county spokesman said, despite the environmental concerns, the fact that the practice has been going on legally for more than 20 years falls in favor of the farm.