CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — Recent downpours have made life even more difficult for residents in a Citrus County neighborhood, where sandy, unpaved roads have turned even more treacherous.
For homeowners like Ruben Crespo, who has lived in the Inverness Village 4 subdivision for more than two years, the situation has become unbearable.
“We’re American people,” he said. “We should not be living like this.”
WATCH: ‘We’re stuck’: Recent downpours worsen Citrus County neighborhood's ugly problem
Crespo and his wife, Josie Rivera, recently attempted to sell their home but were unsuccessful.
“I think about it every day,” Rivera said. “I mean, we’re stuck here.”
Concerns are particularly grave during hurricane season.
“A tropical storm or hurricane hitting us here full force, we couldn’t get out,” Crespo warned.
Even smaller downpours this month have worsened the problem. Erosion has carved out sandy ruts and, in some spots, exposed underground water lines.
Crespo says a good Samaritan helped patch parts of the public roads, but the fixes were temporary.
On Wednesday alone, both a work truck and a UPS truck got stuck in a particular sandy stretch of Crestwood Ave.
“It’s a sad situation for everyone. And frustrating. And depressing,” Rivera said.
Inverness Village 4 was built without a drainage system, which left homeowners with eroded, nearly impassable streets and mounting safety concerns.
Neighbors claim they were misled when they bought the property, assuming the roads would be paved and proper drainage installed. Instead, they say they’ve been caught in a stalemate as Citrus County officials, a homebuilder, and a land seller blame one another for the neighborhood’s plight.
Although the neighborhood’s roads were dedicated to the public, Citrus County has refused to perform maintenance on the right-of-ways, claiming that no roads were ever constructed.
“There’s a lot of finger-pointing, and nobody’s taking the blame,” Crespo said.
In late February, the issue even snarled first responders when a Citrus County Fire Rescue truck became stuck in a sandy intersection inside the subdivision.
According to Citrus County Fire Rescue Chief Craig Stevens, the fire truck was leaving a medical call in the neighborhood when it got stuck. Even though the fire truck does not have four-wheel drive (4WD), he said the county has ambulances and ATVs that are 4WD-capable.
In July, the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) filed a lawsuit against Citrus County Government, Van Der Valk Construction, and other entities tied to the neighborhood’s development. The agency stated that homes were constructed without the legally required environmental permits, which are designed to prevent flooding, erosion, and other environmental impacts.
In a separate court filing, SWFWMD explained its enforcement action isn’t about punishment; it’s about compliance.
“The development… must have a [drainage] system… for the health and safety of the public,” it reads.
In a previous interview, residents like Kerri Gladden expressed cautious optimism about the lawsuit, but she told Tampa Bay 28 she doesn’t expect a quick fix.
“I don’t think that the resolution is going to be anytime soon for anybody to get us out of the situation that we are in,” Gladden said. “Unfortunately, I think it will be years.”
For now, neighbors like Crespo and Rivera are trying to stay hopeful as their roads continue to crumble.
“We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Rivera said.
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