Florida residents worried about homes sinking into canal: 'Nobody is being held accountable'

TITUSVILLE, Fla. - FOX 35 News investigated canal concerns in Titusville. Homeowners say their properties are slowly sliding into a canal behind their homes because the city hasn’t maintained the area.

They’ve asked the city to trim trees and deal with the weeds for decades, but nothing’s been done, so they reached out to FOX 35 for help. 

Neighbors are working together, and the Heritage Drive coalition has recently started. They’re attending city council meetings as much as they can to raise awareness of the issue. 

The couple who owns a home on Heritage Drive says they’ve been asking the city to clean the canal for 20 years. They’ve replaced their backyard fence three times already, and the third fence is already in bad shape because new trees from the canal are growing into the backyard. 

Neighbors are worried they’re one bad storm away from losing everything.

"All of this is their fault, 150% their fault," said Rhonda Stover, who has decades of emails, documents, and grievances to the city, trying to get more maintenance done on the canal behind her house. 

Decades later, she’s furious. She loves her home but not the backyard, because all she sees are weeds, bushes, and trees taking over and destroying her fence. Ultimately, she says the lack of maintenance is causing her backward to seep into the canal. 

"One accident, one thunderstorm taking one of these trees, will take the entire wall out. Therefore, our properties going into the canal, as well," said Stover. 

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It’s not just her property in danger. Several homeowners on Heritage Drive are living in fear.

"In the back of my mind, I’m worrying — the next big storm could take it out," said Luc Peyret, a first-time homeowner who bought his property on Heritage Drive during the pandemic. 

FOX 35’s Esther Bower asked another homeowner and veteran, Joseph Simmons, what it would mean to him if his property slid off into the canal. 

"We’d lose everything," Simmons said. He’s retired and lives on a fixed social security income with his wife. 

Neighbors showed us around their backyards, and every yard we saw was tilting into the canal. On the property, you can even see how much sand has washed away from the foundation of the home.

"Nobody is being held accountable for this canal, and it doesn’t seem fair, everything we’re having to deal with just to get our stuff fixed," said Peyret. 

The neighbors are going to city council meetings and asking for help. FOX 35 asked the city for comment and was told they couldn’t interview because they’re worried about potential legal action, but they are looking into the issue.

At an April city council meeting, the mayor of Titusville said, "We’ll get an update on the next one."

Neighbors say that the city must do something before it's too late after removing trees on their own, filling in sinkholes with concrete, and trying to keep the weeds out.

"It’s depressing, altogether," concluded Peyret.

This issue is personal for these homeowners because this is their property, but they’re also worried about the entire community. FPL poles are in place right by the canal, which is a few steps away from the area and is causing issues. 

Homeowners say the entire community will be in jeopardy if the electric poles collapse.