SAN DIEGO — Update as of Wednesday, September 6 | The City of San Diego took action this week and visited the bakery. CBS 8 visited the property Wednesday, September 6 and it appears that the employees cleaned up all the trash. If the trash wasn't cleaned up by Wednesday, the city threatened to hit the business with a citation.
Original Story:
Rafael Tello lives on Boston Avenue in Barrio Logan, he told CBS 8 he is desperate for help.
Tello says since June he’s been dealing with mountains of trash bags that are carrying rotting dough and moldy bread. It's been piling up in the back lot of Charlie's Best Bread.
The bakery is located next to Tello’s apartment complex and has caused an unbearable smell. He says the odor from the piles of trash is so bad that he’s seen rodents and flies ripping through the bags.
Tello believes the bakery never had a dumpster or stopped paying their trash company.
Since then, they have been leaving leftover food outside.
Tello says he and other neighbors asked the owner if he could clear it up several times–but the owner ignored him. The neighbors then reported it to the city of San Diego.
On Tuesday evening CBS 8 went to the bakery and noticed the owner Fernando Lozano and his employees finally clearing up the trash.
We asked Lozano for a comment, but he denied our request and closed the gate to the back of his business.
We also reached out to the city of San Diego to see how they are working to resolve the issue.
In a statement, a spokesperson says,
“An initial citation was issued to the property owner, who has since removed half of the waste. if the remaining waste is not removed by tomorrow morning an additional citation will be issued.”
People living near the bakery are relieved to see the owner clearing up the trash, but they are also cautiously optimistic.
Tello says he only hopes this issue gets resolved quickly and that it doesn't happen again.
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