Residents and business owners of the Animas District in south Farmington are speaking out about troubles in their neighborhood.
Betty Tylie, who has lived in the Animas District since 1976, presented a petition with 41 signatures to both the Farmington City Council and the Community Relations Commission.
The petition tells a story of criminal activity leaving neighbors questioning their own safety.
“I can’t even walk in my neighborhood anymore. My neighbor just had his car windows busted in,” resident Michayla Slade wrote in the petition.
This is the same neighborhood where on Aug. 31, 2025, a group of teenagers fired more than 28 rounds killing Jesse Hensley, 19, and Lamar White, 15.
Other criminal activity includes house fires, suspected trafficking of fentanyl and methamphetamine, and alcohol abuse, according to the petition.
“There is no way my kids can even wander Farmington … and feel safe,” another resident, Elise Mortensen, wrote in the petition.
Tylie told the council and the commission that she is “tired of paying property tax and have to look out my windows and see drunks and see drugs passing from hand to hand.”
Tylie said she will not go outside for fear of “being panhandled.”
Joyce Nabors wrote on the petition that she went for a walk, and three people approached her to “demand” she buy them alcohol. “We got away but it scared the life out of us,” she wrote.
“Our whole neighborhood is terrible,” Nabors wrote.
Another concern from the residents is “the presence of human waste, discarded drug paraphernalia and needles in public spaces,” the petition said.
Tylie said she has witnessed people “urinate on my garage doors.”
“I’d like to see the neighborhood get cleaned up,” she said.
Resident Jody Moore said one of the big issues is finding a solution for “street inebriates,” adding that the public restroom facilities downtown are being locked.
“We would like to see more public restrooms. After you eat you need to do your business, and it ends up in the street, and that is a health and public safety concern,” she said. “We need good public restrooms for everybody. The circle is broken something needs to be fixed there.”
Moore told the Community Relations Commission, What I’m responsible for is paying my taxes and watching out for my neighbors. I think the city officials need to reach out to state officials.”
“This gives us a little idea of what’s going on in our community that we are not aware of,” Dale Leedy, Community Relations Commission chairman, said.
Commissioner Deb Dumont asked for a city report on the issues highlighted by residents so the commission could take action.
Farmington Human Resources Director Tom Swenk was overseeing the meeting and thanked everyone for coming out to share the information.
“We can help facilitate to the right area where these have impact, as we have these initiatives, these things come up,” Swenk said. “With the comments we received today we will provide an update and report on that next time.”
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