A man in northwest Bakersfield says he lives next door to a home that's been abandoned for 15 years.
He says it's a junkyard with a massive beehive that he's called Code Enforcement about. But, he says nothing has been done.
Tim Renick lives in his home with his 70-year-old parents. Renick says they're all afraid to go down their driveway because of falling tree limbs and bees from the house next door.
"The place is a fire hazard. It's got issues with the trees, it's lifting up my driveway, there's a beehive in the front. Something needs to be done about it," said Renick.
Renick says he fears the limbs on his neighbor's tree may crash down on his house. The large tree is tearing apart his fence. But, his biggest worry is the huge beehive growing inside another tree.
"It bugs me to death," said Renick. "Every time I back out of the driveway, sometimes it will slip my mind. I'll get out there and see them buzzing 'zzzz' and have to roll the window up real quick, you know. If I get stung again, it may kill me."
Renick says the house next door has been abandoned for 15 years. He's called County Code Enforcement and beekeepers to come out, but he says they never fixed the problem.
And, Renick isn't the only one complaining.
"Well, it's just a nightmare," said Carl Chitwood, who lives nearby. "The house is a mess. It's been that way for years, almost since the time I moved in. Even when they were living in the house, they never took care of it."
Neighbors would take turns trimming the trees, but they say squatters have recently been staying in the home. Neighbors say they've nailed the front door shut four times, but it keeps getting reopened.
Code Compliance says it's had cases on the property since 2009 when it contacted the homeowner who told them she wants nothing to do with the house.
"In this case, we have been on the property before. We cleaned it up five months ago. We were in cleaning up the property. Are we manicuring it like someone would like their neighborhood? No, we can't do that. That's beyond what's reasonable for the county," said Chuck Lackey, Director of Engineering, Surveying, Permit Services Department.
"Look at my fence," said Renick. "You know what I mean. It's not that I got the greatest fence in the world, but it is my fence, and that tree's tearing it up. And, there's nothing I can do about it except watch it fall."
County Code Enforcement says staff will check out the situation in the next few days. They will determine its public safety risk then post a notice on the property.
