Broward County Parks wants to remove a makeshift roadside memorial but one family wants to keep it.
Flowers, pictures and other mementos fill the memorial for two men killed in a car accident. It's been three years since the deaths of Mikhail Scandarion and Gerardo Gap Sierra, who lost control of their car on Sheridan Street just blocks from their home.
"They hydroplaned at the bottom of the hill right into the lamp post and into the tree. That's why the tree isn't a random tree. It is the tree literally that they died at," mother Rachael Scandarion said.
Since then, family members have come by to pay their respects at the memorial. It has grown over time but some say it's gotten too unruly.
"It's become bigger and bigger and more unsightly so we're trying our best to work with them to make sure that we can still provide something more lasting, more permanent," said Dan West, director of Broward County Parks and Recreation.
The problem is that the memorial is in TY Park, on Broward County property in Hollywood. The county says they are respectful of the tragedy but the mementos surrounding the tree have interfered with lawn service and sometimes paper and bottle have blown away causing a cleanup headache.
Scandarion's grieving mother said she stumbled upon a violation notice on a bench last week, giving her one week to remove the items. She said it's the only way they can grieve their loved one's death, but there may be a happy ending.
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"We're not planning to remove it. We are even actually hoping that they, I think they've already applied for an FDOT memorial marker," West said.
"They are not going to take any action at all at this time. They're going to sit down and negotiate something that is gonna work for everybody," Scandarion said.
Scandarion applied for a 15-inch DOT memorial post which will make it a more permanent site and they are working with the county on finding an agreed upon guideline to keep the memorial intact.
