Residents complain of trash and cockroaches at south Topeka apartments

TOPEKA (KSNT) – The City of Topeka visited a local apartment complex this week to investigate claims of unsanitary conditions that might violate city code.

We met up with residents at the White Lakes Plaza Apartments at 3730 SW Plaza Dr. in south Topeka on Oct. 8 to hear what they have to say. Tenants are complaining about ongoing sanitation problems and the buildup of trash at the apartment complex.

Residents said garbage is piling up outside of their homes due to a lack of dumpsters, attracting pests like cockroaches into the area and living spaces. They also said the apartments were fine until they noticed a shift in property care.

“Since they changed the maintenance people around here, like less than a month ago, probably it wasn’t near as bad back then,” said resident Donovan Holloway. “Their maintenance doesn’t do anything. They don’t clean up no trash, obviously. But that’s pretty much it.”

We got in touch with the City of Topeka to learn more about what’s being done about the situation. City of Topeka spokesman Dan Garrett said there are eight open code cases for the White Lakes Plaza Apartments. The current owner of the apartment complex has yet to respond to our questions.

If you have complaints regarding property problems in Topeka, reach out to the city’s Property Maintenance Unit. It is located on the first floor of the Cyrus K. Holiday Building at 620 SE Madison and can be reached by calling 785-368-3161 or by emailing propertymaintenance@topeka.org.

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