Construction site causing environmental and safety problems

COLLIER COUNTY – We hear from people living near a construction site in Naples who say it is starting to endanger the environment and their safety.

The property on Santa Barbara Blvd. is used to crush concrete right next to several housing communities. People living nearby are asking Collier County to do something, but after talking to Cadenhead Construction, they tell us it’s fully legal.

We saw concrete trucks delivered to the site on Tuesday for crushing, all just a few feet from Catherine Novy’s house in the Firano housing estate.

“It’s a residential area and they operate it as a dumping ground for the city,” Novy said.

Novy said work continues from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily.

“The amount of dust, soot, noise. The noise level is ridiculous, ”Novy said.

We also spoke with Janice Townsend, who lives just south of the construction site in the Seychelles housing community. She said she hit a large piece of concrete in the middle of the road and was almost seriously injured.

“I swerved, at that point the rock hit the rear tire. Caused a puncture and also cut an entire big gash in the rim of my vehicle,” Townsend said.

She said the accident ended up costing her $ 1,200, but she feared it could cost someone else’s life.

“I am a very careful driver. If it had been someone else, a neighbor of mine who might have been elderly might have been killed, ”Townsend said.

We spoke on the phone with Bobby Cadenhead, the owner of Cadenhead Construction. He did not want to be registered, but he told us that he complied with all regulations of the Department of Environmental Protection.

He also said he crushed concrete on site because it saved him around $ 2 million instead of having it crushed elsewhere and shipped. He said he plans to have all concrete delivered by Nov. 1 and all crushing by Jan. 1.

Novy said that after two years living next door to the site, she isn’t buying it.

“I question the legitimacy of him telling you that he will stop bringing stuff in November and stop on January 1. I can’t imagine it being the case, because it’s not been two years, ”Novy said.

Cadenhead said crushed concrete was going to be used for construction at the site. He said he plans to build hundreds of condo units and over 260,000 square feet of retail space.

Novy said it was something she and her neighbors would fight to prevent this from happening.