Leominster Man Fined $100 A Day For Not Cleaning Up Yard
LEOMINSTER (CBS) - Neighbors and city officials are calling for a Leominster man to clean up his yard. The man, Archie Plette, is facing a growing fine every single day.
UPDATE: Plette Charged With Beating Wife
He says he fixes up the old equipment and other items to sell them, but the city says it all has to go.
Archie says he is a "picker," not a hoarder or junk collector. Outboard motors, boats, old cars, file cabinets and lawnmowers litter the yard. He calls them his toys. The city has ruled it a nuisance.
"There is absolutely a vendetta," Plette says.
The Health Department took Plette to court last summer arguing his yard was an eyesore, a health threat and a fire hazard. He was ordered to clean it up but refused. The city has been fining him $100 a day ever since.
He has not paid a dime and on Friday the city will ask a judge to put the property in receivership so they can start removing items from the yard.
Plette plans to tell the city to, "go to hell" when he serves as his own attorney.
"I am going to sue the city for five times the value of anything they touch," Plette tells WBZ.
Some neighbors suspect Plette's cluttered yard will make it nearly impossible to sell their homes.
The Leominster Health Director says he understands why the 63-year-old likes collecting and tinkering with machinery, but argues it has gone way too far.
