Davis Islands, Florida -- \"It should be leveled to the ground. It's a danger, it's an eyesore, and it's detrimental to the neighborhood,\" said Bill Newman. <\/p>\n
Newman has had enough. He's watched the abandoned Davis Islands mansion at 545 Severn Avenue slowly rot across the street from his home. So has resident Kim Fatica. <\/p>\n
\"It's a total mystery why the owners have lets this go one for so long,\" said Fatica. <\/p>\n
Bad blood has been brewing ever since the owners abandoned it almost four years ago. Each passing day, the mansion gets worse. Broken windows, crumbling stucco, the yard unkept. Recently, Tampa cops had to clean out vagrants and teenagers. <\/p>\n
Antonio Amadeo is on the board of the Davis Islands Civic Association and said there's another issue. <\/p>\n
\"Safety is a big issue for a community and it always has been,\" he said. <\/p>\n
Fast-forward to Monday, where the owners started cleaning it up, but only because the story has exploded in the media. Code enforcement condemned the property and suggested demolition the very day of the inspection, but a public hearing was granted because the owners are fighting it. <\/p>\n
Residents say it's too little, too late. <\/p>\n
\"This is an 11th hour attempt to try and save face on a property that should have been taken care of a long time ago,\" said Fatica. <\/p>\n
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Dilapidated Davis Islands mansion a neighborhood battle<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Davis Islands, Florida -- \"It should be leveled to the ground. It's a danger, it's an eyesore, and it's detrimental to the neighborhood,\" said Bill Newman. Newman has had enough Continue reading