YORK COUNTY, Pa. — Codorun Farms off Hokes Mill Road stretches across hundreds of acres and serves as a pastoral setting for anyone who drives by.
But turn onto Old Salem Road and people will see how some are treating the rural property as their personal trash dump.
Everything from sofas to mattresses, televisions, and even a car fender are among the discarded on the edge of the Codorun Farms property in West Manchester Township.
Owner Mel Campbell says it’s been a long road dealing with illegal dumping on the property.
“There’s been dumping going on here, as far as I know, for at least 65 plus years, and all those years the township would pick it up. It’s worse right now because we’ve been in litigation for two and a half years, two and a half years for a zoning violation,” Campbell said.
Campbell and his family have owned the property for generations and take pride in its appearance. Some buildings on the property are more than 200 years old.
But dumping on the road has been an issue for years. With its rural access and lack of cameras, it’s an ideal spot for discarding large items.
“There are no houses so you can dump with impunity,” Campbell said.
The dumping reached a threshold in 2022 when Campbell received a violation notice from the township after someone filed an anonymous complaint about the trash.
At the time, Campbell was cited $500 for every day the trash remained on the property.
“It’s always our hope that the property owner complies and comes into compliance with the ordinance, if that doesn’t happen then we pursue further enforcement and that’s how we ended up in this situation,” said attorney Andrew Herrold, representing the township.
But Campbell says this was an overreach by the township.
“They have done nothing other than say I need to pick it up now, other than I need to put up cameras now,” Campbell told FOX43.
Both parties eventually met in the York County Court of Common Pleas and have until the end of April to reach a settlement.
“If we don’t have the exact resolution hammered out by April 30th, I am confident that the court will give us whatever time we need to come to that ultimate resolution,” Herrold described.
“It’s not about picking up the trash, it’s about stopping the people that’re doing it, that’s how you get to the root of the problem,” Campbell said.
Herrold says the township has increased police patrol on Old Salem Road but Campbell argues the township should invest in streetlights and cameras.
Anyone with information on the dumping is encouraged to call law enforcement.