BITHLO, Fla. — A junk yard is filling a once peaceful neighborhood with the constant noise of crushing cars.
It is located on Madison Avenue in Orange County in Bithlo.
Orange County said the operation at #1 Dan's Auto Recycling is violating the residential zoning in the area.
Channel 9's Lori Brown asked why the business is still operating three years later.
Bithlo residents hear the sound all day long.
The operation is just across the street from the Bithlo Community Park and surrounded by homes.
"We get a sonic boom effect, and this big ka-boom, and my house shakes and the dishes rattle in my house," resident Linda Butler said.
Butler said she bought the house because she liked the view of the trees. Three years ago, that peaceful backdrop transformed into an industrial jungle.
"It's like please, just make it go away! Please give me five minutes with no 'beep-beep-beep, varoom,'" Butler said.
Patricia Fischer has been fighting to get the junk yard shut down since it opened in 2011.
"It's consistent beeping all day long," Fischer said.
Her fight is in part for her dad, Billy Mendenhall, a Korean War veteran.
"I've got PTSD. It drives me crazy," Mendenhall said.
Their fight went all the way to county commissioners.
The previous land owner received an exemption from residential zoning in 1978 that grandfathered in the new owner.
The county says he abandoned the land from 2008 to 2010, which would void the exemption.
The property owner is fighting the county in court.
"Our contention: it was never abandoned and the county never proved it was abandoned," said Thomas Luka, the attorney for the property owner.
Fischer just wants her peaceful life back.
"If they were in Winter Park, they would be shut down," Fischer said.
The lawsuit could take anywhere from six months to six years to resolve.
The code enforcement board will conduct a hearing next month to issue a compliance date.
After that date, code enforcement plans to levy a $1,000-a-day fine and file a lien against the property.
WFTV
