FAYETTEVILLE — Some Fayetteville homeowners want to raise neighborhood living standards. They say their neighbors' yards are eyesores and that the city is not doing enough to clean them up.

John Chaney sets aside a few minutes each day to work in his front yard. He wishes some of his neighbors would do the same. Up the street from Chaney's home, a neighbor moved out, leaving behind two abandoned cars and piles of trash.

"I've been trying to get the inspections department for about two years to see if they couldn't get it cleaned up," Chaney said. "It's been one hassle after another."

The director of Fayetteville's inspections department says his office has to follow procedures, and that does not happen overnight.

Inspectors write more than 2,000 property clean-up notices each year. Once an owner is notified to clean up property, they have 10 days to comply.

If an owner does not clean the property after being notified, they will be fined $100 a day. The city can also contract to have it done, putting a tax lien on the property so taxpayers will not foot the bill.