NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. - North Fort Myers neighbors living near what was once going to be a Paradise Preserve say it's anything but paradise. After years of staring at a field of weeds, homeowners want to know what is being done to salvage their neighborhood.

"Oh, it was beautiful," Jane Smith said as she remembered the golf community she moved into in 2001. Then she looked at what it is today.

"You can see the bushes and the trees with the dead leaves. It isn't being maintained at all," Smith said.

Chris Rocha is happy to be moving out today, but still hasn't found a buyer. "They hate it, they hate it. We dropped the house $300,000 and we still haven't been able to sell it," Rocha said.

The trouble started a few years back when a developer planned to transform the Lochmoor Country Club. They went bankrupt. Land owner Marshall Investments Corporation contracted Florida Realty Management to maintain the property. They tell WINK News they're doing all the county asks. Neighbors disagree. "Well if you come out and look at it, you will see that is not true because these weeds can not grow 6 and 8 feet in one week," Marlene Sharp.

Lee County cites two violations. One has to do with the lack of mowing. The other has to do with construction materials littering the property. Until all of the concrete and asphalt have been removed, the county will be fining the company $75 a day

To date, the mowing fee plus fines is up to approximately $1,700. So what is actually being done here? We called Marshall to get some answers, but they would not comment.

Neighbors say they all they want is to meet with the land owner to find out what's going on in their backyards. While Lee County has stepped in to mow parts of the property, they say they have no intentions of buying or developing Paradise Preserve. Right now, county's goal is simply to clean up the area.