An 80-year-old Jacksonville woman recovering from heart surgery is fighting a severe cockroach infestation inside her Westside apartment, and her family says they do not know where to turn. She has lived at Timuquana Park Apartments for more than three decades and has held her Section 8 unit there since 1991, but roaches have now spread into her kitchen cabinets and light fixtures.
The woman told Action News Jax she does not know where to turn over the infestation. Her son, John Atkins, said apartment staff have sprayed the unit multiple times, but the treatment has not appropriately combated the problem. Roach droppings were visible in a drawer inside the apartment, and roaches were seen on a wall and near the woman's couch, according to the same report.
City Inspectors Confirm the Infestation
The City of Jacksonville's code enforcement division inspected the apartment, and a city inspector documented a severe roach infestation, per the report. The complex was issued a warning citation as a result. The city may impose fines that can continue until property owners comply, according to the City of Jacksonville.
A third-party apartment directory lists Timuquana Park Apartments, located at 5615 Seaboard Avenue in the 32244 ZIP code, as built in 1981 with 100 subsidized housing units; it also lists several housing programs, according to PublicHousing.com. Infestation is addressed as a topic under HUD's National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate, per US Housing Consultants.
A Recovery Complicated by Weekly Displacement
Apartment staff plan to treat the woman's unit once a week, but each treatment requires her to leave the apartment for four to six hours, the station's report notes. Atkins said his mother has nowhere to go during those treatments. He works as a truck driver and said he may not be available to care for her during the sprayings, leaving the family unsure how to manage her recovery around the schedule.
Florida Statute § 83.51(2)(a) requires landlords of multi-unit residential properties with three or more units to make reasonable provisions for the extermination of roaches, rats, mice, ants, and bedbugs, according to Online Sunshine.
Atkins said he does not know what the family will do if the weekly treatments fail. He fears that moving his mother may not solve the infestation, since cockroaches can travel with belongings, and he said relocating may not change the situation at all.
A Pattern Across Westside Subsidized Housing
Apartment staff said the complex would respond to Atkins' concerns, but the report notes staff had not responded by the time the story was published. This case echoes a broader trend of code enforcement actions at Westside subsidized complexes; Hoodline's own coverage of the Valencia Way AC outage detailed multiple warning citations issued to that Westside complex in August over uncorrected living condition violations.
Jacksonville renters who face unaddressed housing code violations can request an official property inspection through the city's 630-CITY (myjax) public service system, according to the City of Jacksonville.
