WORCESTER, Mass. - Flavio Parente notices every item dumped on his street. It’s been happening for years and he said enough is enough.

“If… Mayor Joe Petty can come over here with the director of DPW and see this in person and it doesn’t touch their heart, they aren’t human beings,” Parente said. 

His house on Swan Avenue is surrounded by other people’s trash. The privacy his family loves about the neighborhood seems to attract vandals.

“That’s a power pressure washer,” Parente said, pointing at items dumped near his home. “Car seats. Rubber. That’s tires.”

Parente said at least one car every day drives up the hill to toss unwanted items. He has already voiced his concerned to Worcester Department of Public Works and Parks.

“Director of DPW saying, ‘Hey if you get clean, no one is going to come and dump’,” Parente said. “Right there, sir. See. That is your theory, and that doesn’t work. “

Now, he wants the city to block off one side of his street to make it harder for people to gain access. Swan Avenue is a private road and the Worcester DPW said illegal dumping is a problem across the city. 

“What they are looking for are ways and areas where there’s no lights. There is an easy way of no one is watching. We can pull a truck in, leave a load and get out of there before anybody sees us," DPW commissioner Jay Fink said. “If no one is watching, and it’s not lit up, it is going to become problematic.”

Parente pays property tax and said the city owns the land people used to litter. He cleans up every season, but said it’s a job the city should be responsible for.

“I love this city. I love it. That is why I am here,” Parente said. “I’ve been here for 22 years. I am not leaving.”