DETROIT – One senior living on Detroit’s east side says he’s had to face overgrown vegetation in the backyard of the vacant home next door for years.
But 65-year-old Kenny Holloway says it’s the worst it’s ever been.
“You’ve got a truck that’s been back there,” said Halloway. “You can’t even see it because it’s a Suburban truck, and the grass and the weeds have grown over it.”
But this, he said, he’d had enough. Once Again, the vegetation was so out of control you would think he was living next door to the Amazon. The house itself isn’t that much better, either.
“The house is terrible,” Holloway said. “I mean, the roof is falling and caving in. The foundation is bad on the inside.”
The front yard of the neighbor’s house had become an eyesore and had all types of animals coming from it.
“We got cats and animals going up under the steps and kittens and stuff,” Holloway said. “They’re coming into my yard.”
Thankfully the city was there to take care of the problem again, cleaning the place up and mowing the grass that’s grown so high it was close to pushing Holloway’s entire fence over.
“And it’s sad,” Holloway said. “I have to call you guys in order to get the ball rolling. You know we’ve been through this before.”
But he’s hoping more could be done so he doesn’t look at a jungle every few weeks. He says he’s been to every single city council meeting on the matter.
“We’re down there every Tuesday, and it seems like they hear us, but they don’t hear us,” Holloway said.
The previous owner never did anything despite nearly $1,000 in fees and fines. Now it looks like the home is in foreclosure. Either way, Holloway thinks things will be better with the house gone altogether.
“The house really needs tearing down,” Holloway said. “They’re just neglecting us over here in our own community as taxpayers, and it’s a damn shame that we have to live like this.”
As far as what happens next, the city says since the home has been foreclosed, that will make it much easier to maintain.
