Construction forced to stop after dirt covers people’s homes, cars

Charlotte County shut down a construction site near homes, where dirt and filth covers houses and parked cars.

“It’s bad if you go outside you’ll get dust and dirt in your eyes. To me it’s like a desert and the wind is blowing. It’s all over,” said homeowner Darlene Warner.

Layers of dust and dirt still blanket Grove City homes just steps from the Island Lake Estates development.

The problem is so bad, some homeowners boarded up their homes and moved away.

Charlotte County confirms they issued a stop work order Friday, halting construction for good. That is, until the developer can come up with a plan to get the dust settled.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection has also been notified of the ongoing problem.

“I don’t know if they could put a blanket or something over it, get the grass growing or something so it stops blowing dirt over everything,” Warner said.

It’s a problem homeowners have been dealing with for more than a year.

But now people are conflicted—they want the dust to stop, but no construction means they’re not any closer to the project being completed.

“I want them to build houses right away. When they get houses built back in there, that will help to stop the wind so that’s the only thing that will help,” said homeowner John Warner.

The county stopped work previously back in April of 2017.

Since then, crews have put up a fence with a silt cover and even installed sprinklers to keep the site wet, hoping to cut down on the dust, but homeowners say nothing is working.