LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- More than 30,000 property inspections were conducted throughout Louisville this year and more than $4 million in fines have been issued.

Those violations are for anything from blocking sidewalks with trash to high grass. Councilwoman Donna Purvis, D-5, who represents the area with the most fines, is fed up and says the city isn't doing enough.

The city's Fifth District includes the city's Shawnee and Portland neighborhoods. The high number of vacant and abandoned properties in these neighborhoods means a longer list for the city to keep up with.

Rich Miles moved to Portland a few years ago and considers it a gem.

"A sense that the rest of town doesn't know what it's about to live up here," Miles said. 

Just two weeks ago, trash was dumped behind his fence, blocking the alley. Miles said he called 311, but received no response for a week, so he took to Facebook. He credits his councilwoman, Purvis, for helping facilitate action.

"You can't be complaint-driven in those types of neighborhoods. You need to have proactive steps," said Purvis.

Purvis said she's seeing these issues piling up across the city, especially in west Louisville. 

Robert Kirchdorfer, with the city's Codes and Regulations department, said of their 49 inspectors, 37 work city properties. They're responsible for maintaining more than 1,500 properties about once a month, and then even more when accounting for the Landbank. Many of these are vacant or abandoned properties.

"Well I do feel inspectors do work proactively," Kirchdorfer said. "We might not have the volume to do it as proactively as we can."

But Purvis disagrees and said they are not doing enough, pointing out properties that were assessed to be in compliance.

"Clear violation. The steps are crooked, outside is dirty" she said as she referenced a slide.

She insists her neighbors deserve better, and Kirchdorfer said they'll get down to the bottom of their responses.

"I'm more than welcome to work with you for each case, if we missed something, we will address that with our staff," he said.

Back in west Louisville, Miles hopes to see a cleaner neighborhood, beyond his backyard, that reflects the pride in the community.

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