MIAMI – While there is a big push to get fiber optic lines installed to get everyone connected to the internet at a quicker pace, here in South Florida, that push is coming with a cost.
Residents say they are paying the price with disruptions to water and sewer services as well as property damage these contractors are causing as they install those new lines.
Local 10 News spoke with Linda Alger, who has lived in her home on Southwest 29th Avenue, in Miami’s Silver Bluff neighborhood, for 52 years.
Alger says she is upset after she came home one day and found her yard marked with orange paint and flags around her front yard, which normally indicates that a fiber optic line is being installed.
Alger has called the area home well before the neighboring high-rise apartment buildings were constructed. The 23-story Grove Central building just opened up to its residents on Oct. 16.
Alger said she knows that she is in for a big payday if she ever decides to sell her home but remains frustrated that a fiber optic line runs under her front yard without her consent.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how shocked and upset I am,” she said.
The line was installed by Hotwire Communications, bringing the new luxury building online.
“What has this done to the value of our properties?” Alger asked. “And how do you sell your property and move and tell a potential developer: ‘Oh, by the way, you can’t use my front yard.’” she said.
Alger said she recently woke up to orange markings and flags marked as Hotwire Communications, crossing off the sidewalk and through her and three of her neighbors’ lawns.
Alger believes that the job was done without a permit.
“It should have never been done and it’s hurting us and it’s hurting our future,” she said.
The City of Miami’s Public Works Department said in a statement, in part:
“We have not been able to locate any approved permit for such work, either on public right of way or private property at this location. A notice of violation was issued on October 16th to Hotwire Communications. We haven’t been in constant communication with Hotwire. They haven’t been able to provide either proof of an approved permit, or an executed utility easement allowing installation under private property.
Alger now wants the line to be removed from her property and under the sidewalk.
“I want it out and I want it gone,” she said.
The city’s public works department told Local 10 News this week that Hotwire Communications is currently looking into whether the line is buried under private property.
If it is, officials say they will be forced to relocate the line.