Mayfair neighbor dispute over dog poop

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - "This has been going on for a little over five years. I've been taking pictures and reporting it to the Philly 311 site," said Kelly Jacoby. She's pinching her nose over a stench she says is coming from her neighbors deck on the rear of his Mayfair row house.

"He just lets him out on the deck several times a day. The dog gets let out for five to ten minutes to do his business and then he goes back in the house," she said. Kelly says her neighbor on Montague Street leaves dog poop on the deck that's connected to hers. She claims it forces her to put up with the foul smell and sometimes flies.

"I have two back bedrooms. The windows cannot be opened. I have a kitchen window. I cannot open that. I can't open anything at this point," she said. Kelly complained to city officials and says License and Inspections and the city's CLIP "Community Life Improvement Programs" got involved. Court documents show the premises was found to be "a public nuisance due to the health and safety risks the conditions pose to the general public".

The issue went to civil court twice in the past two months. The most recent was September 15th. Kelly said her neighbor didn't show up to either hearing. A judge ordered the resident to cleanup or face fines.

"She basically said he had 10 days to clean the property meaning power wash and seal the deck or they would start to incur fines of 300 dollars per day. That did not happen," said Kelly.

We knocked on her neighbor's door to get his side of the story but no one answered.
Kelly now fears the issue won't be resolved. An email she says she received from city officials a few days ago assures her it will.

"They will come out and clean the deck next week and I said that's great but five minutes after you leave the dog is going to go back out there and do his business. That's the reality behind it," she said.

A spokesperson for L&I says the city is still litigating the matter against the homeowner.
We'll let you know if and when we get a response from him.