SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — Business owners at a Shelby County strip mall are fed up with an ongoing dumping problem.
There are constantly piles of trash and bulky items in the back corner of the strip mall at Berryhill Road and Chimneyrock.
Raphael Sprouse runs Fit Body Bootcamp right next to where trash is being dumped. He said people have been dumping there since he moved in October.
“I mean, they just don’t care I guess,” Sprouse said.
He said his landlord frequently cleans the area but can’t stay ahead of the problem.
“Soon as they clean it up, somebody comes back and dumps trash,” Sprouse said. “If it gets clean today, tomorrow it will look the same.”
Sprouse is so frustrated, he’s tried to confront people he catches dumping.
“Most of them like hurry up and drive off,” Sprouse said.
There’s another dumping problem across the street at a car wash that’s no longer in use.
Unlike the strip mall, that property is in Memphis, right on the edge of the city limits. According to city ordinance, that means it’s the owner’s job to clean up the mess, even if it’s not their fault.
“You have to maintain your property no matter what, regardless of who makes a mess,” said Gary Hattaway, who lives in the area. “Because if you ignore it, it’s going to get worse and worse.”
Sprouse is glad the problem outside his gym hasn’t been ignored. He just wishes people would give his business and his landlord a break.
“I don’t think it’s people in the community that’s doing it. It’s people outside the community,” Sprouse said.
The only contact info listed in county records for that car wash owner is an address 74 miles away in Ashland, Mississippi. City officials tell WREG code enforcement is investigating.
