KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Residents in a Kissimmee mobile home and RV community say they are being smothered by dirt and dust from a Turnpike widening project.
Channel 9 first introduced you to the Ponderosa RV community back in February, and now one resident has filed a lawsuit alleging the construction company should be doing more to protect residents.
Since Channel 9 first visited Ponderosa RV Park, which sits just off the turnpike near Fortune Road, a construction wall has been placed along the turnpike, and a fence has been added around the construction site.
But Ponderosa RV Park resident Darci Combs said it’s doing nothing to stop dust, soot, dirt, and noise from impacting her daily life.
Darci Combs said every morning, she covers her bed with a plastic sheet, wipes down blinds and counters, and wipes the dust off multiple fans in her home.
“My home is destroyed. I have no air conditioning. My fans are black. I have to clean every day to function,” said Combs.
The lawsuit filed by Combs alleges JR Davis Construction Company was negligent and “Failed to erect proper construction barriers to prevent soot, dust, and dirt from accumulating on, within, and around the plaintiff’s home.”
It also claims that the construction company ignored Combs’ plea to do something about the situation for months and that Combs suffered diesel poisoning as a result.
Multiple residents, including a school bus driver, a theme park worker, and a former law enforcement officer, told Channel 9 that dust and smoke from the construction site had overwhelmed their community back in February.
Several residents reported broken AC units due to constant construction dust and said the construction was keeping them up at night.
Some of the homes on wheels have been picked up and left the community since construction began, but that’s not an option for Combs’ mobile home.
“It’s not my home anymore. It’s just a nasty box that I sleep in. But it’s all I have, and it’s my money tied up in it,” said Combs.
Combs said after multiple attempts to get the Turnpike and the construction company to provide relief, she hired a lawyer.
“She was not heard, and they did not give her any kind of relief. And so this is unfortunately the only avenue, the civil justice system,” said Combs’ attorney Daniel Batista, with Justin Clark and partners.
“Anytime Darci has complained to these folks, essentially what they’ve done has just made it worse,” said Batista, “It went from being not just a pure negligence claim to something like, okay, so now this is intentional.”
Darci said she tries to spend as little time as possible in her home.
She’s praying a judge will agree the construction company should pay for her to stay somewhere else amid the construction.
“It’s a temporary injunction that’s being asked for to give her a place to stay so she can just live a normal life,” said Batista.
According to the Florida Turnpike Enterprise website, the construction will widen the turnpike from two lanes to four lanes in each direction from Partin Settlement Road to Osceola Parkway.
It’s expected to cost $321 million, and construction will continue through 2031.
The project overview page states that construction will occur during both daytime and nighttime hours.
It warns, “Nearby residents and businesses may experience occasional impacts from construction-related light, noise, vibration, or dust. The Enterprise is committed to minimizing these disruptions and takes steps to limit traffic delays and noise.”
Channel 9 has repeatedly reached out to the construction company JR. Davis for comment, including after Combs filed her lawsuit. We have not heard back.
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