Lafayette property owner appeals near $15K fine, claims targeting
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- Lafayette Consolidated Government has taken enforcement action against what they said is a junkyard at 101 Huval Street, resulting in nearly $15,000 in fines and cleanup costs.
LCG said the property was found to be in violation of city ordinances, leading to a judgment issued in February 2025 with fines and an abatement order. They said despite multiple notices and hearings, the property remained noncompliant, prompting the city to contract cleanup in July 2025 at a cost of $3,250. The total amount owed, including fines and fees, is $14,995.
Harold Davis, the property owner, claims that the materials taken were tools he depended on for his work, and he feels unfairly targeted by the city. Davis has been running his own business for over a decade, using his property to store materials for projects. He argues that city enforcement has gone too far.
“They come at me, I think more than they come at everybody else because we got the railroad track right here and we got to the end of the street belonging to the city where they got trash piled up and they didn't pick it up. They don't cut the grass on the railroad track," said Davis. "They leave the grass along it, go six feet tall, long as they want but they give me letters to make sure that my grass, when my grass gets three inches tall, they want me to cut it. So, I got to keep it cut. All neat like a golf course but they don't have to be neat.”
Davis claims that materials he used for his work projects were taken by city crews. His sister, Glenda Wiltz, believes Davis is being treated unfairly despite his reputation for helping neighbors.
"If this is such a violation, why don't we just walk around maybe a few blocks over where you might see stuff in people's yards. You got five and six cars, you got trash. So why is it a target for Mr. Harold to be targeted for what he's trying to do as an honest person, self-employed person in the community," Wiltz said.
Davis expressed frustration over the enforcement actions taken by the city, which he feels are unfair.
“I just don't understand. I don't know. I think enough is enough,” said Davis.
A hearing to appeal the reasonableness of the cleanup costs is scheduled for Sept. 3.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KLFY. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KLFY staff before being published.