Grandmother Fed Up With Disgusting Pigeon Problem
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PLANO (CBSDFW) - A Plano grandmother is fed up with a dirty pigeon problem at her seniors-only apartment complex.
Alice Bobo has lived at The Plaza at Chase Oaks for seven years. She says she never noticed a problem with birds, until last fall.
"This is a daily situation here. It appears it's getting worse due to spring being here now," Bobo said.
Bobo filed a complaint with the City of Plano in October. She reported excessive bird droppings all over the ground outside her window.
Using her camcorder, Bobo recorded video of piles of feathers and a dead bird among the waste.
"The droppings are tremendous and sometimes the stench is, you know, disturbing," Bobo sad.
City inspectors from the Neighborhood Services Department responded and noted a property standards violation in October, and again in February.
The management of the apartment community was directed to clean up the droppings, which they did. But the birds have returned again.
"This is where they roost. This is where everything is taking place," said Bobo, referencing the view outside her window. "All I'm asking for is decent, safe, sanitary housing.
The manager for The Plaza – which is a low and moderate income affordable housing complex – declined to do an on camera interview, but she spoke in detail to CBS 11 News about the efforts to address the bird problem.
The manager says The Plaza is a huge property, and there is only one maintenance man who is not able to clean every corner.
Exterminators have taken steps to keep the birds from landing, including metal spikes on roofs and ledges, and hot-foot pads in corners. They've tried fishing lines, and power wash every couple of weeks, the manager says.
Scott Neumeyer is the inspection services supervisor for the Neighborhood Services Department in Plano's Property Standards Division.
Neumeyer says the International Property Maintenance Code requires multi-family housing to maintain clean exterior areas.
While the city can offer suggestions on how to address a long-term solution to the pigeon problem, Neumeyer says it is ultimately up to the property management to handle it.
There are potential health hazards with dropping accumulations, Neumeyer said. The supervisor says another inspector will be sent to check on the property again.
While Alice Bobo would like to move, she is on a fixed income and is locked into a lease, she says. Bobo says the bird mess is constantly in her mind.
"It's very much consuming my energy. I am a senior citizen. It's time for me to rest and not be disturbed, the grandmother said.
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