CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Several community members are raising concerns over the cleanliness of their south-side neighborhood subdivision.
Nathanial Walter is one of the frustrated neighbors that claims raccoons are running rampant as people are feeding them and leaving trash that flows into the nearby water way.
Walter moved into his home near Oso Parkway back in 2019 and says he noticed the issue immediately.
“I noticed right away, even before the house was finished being built, that there was an issue with the raccoons and all of that," Walter said.
Throughout the years, he and other people living in the area said feeding the wild animals has gotten worse. Some people have even stopped their vehicles on the side of the road to throw food out the window as groups of animals approach.
“The raccoons take the garbage," Walter said, "Plastic bags, cups, whatever materials, styrofoam and they drag it into the woods. We get a really heavy rainstorm and then it goes into the water way right near Barnes Elementary.”
Walter says that people have even dumped their own trash into the water. But it's not only small items that are being thrown out. He also added that people have thrown away large appliances like refrigerators, microwaves, and even office desk chairs. Walter mentioned that this is causing a hazard to the people who live there and the water system. He's not the only one who feels this way.
KRIS 6 spoke with other residents who agree with these concerns.
“The biohazard are the raccoons that die and they lay in there," Then they just decompose and their stuff gets into the water way system, poisoning the water," Walter said.
Walter told KRIS 6 that he has reached out numerous times to city officials and even the mayor, but he says the problem persists.
"I shared pictures of all of the problems," Walter said, "They brought a police camera out for one week and the cited a couple of people and then after that they called me back two weeks later, saying that the problem's solved, but that's not true.”
If this issue continues, Walter added that he’s considered moving his family out of the subdivision as he emphasizes his efforts to get local officials to come up with a solution.
KRIS 6 reached out to local officials and the city to hear their side of things, but we have not heard back.
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