Overgrown weeds taking over Topeka neighborhoods
6:34 p.m. Thursday, July 17, 2008
Weeds are all you can see looking at this land near northeast Seward and Lime.
But if you look closely, you can see a gutter, a small sign a home is behind all the mess.
49 News visited the same property nearly four weeks ago and neighbor Bill Gomez says the problem has only gotten worse.
But now he's particularly worried. The home sits just blocks away from the Fiesta Mexicana.
“This is an accident waiting to happen,” he said. “We have people walking through neighborhoods from five in the evening to 11:00 pm to 11:30 at night.”
The home, hidden by weeds nearly 6 feet tall, not only inconveniences those who are walking to the Fiesta, but Gomez says it also portrays a negative image of northeast Topeka.
“People on the west side say look at that. They can't take care of their own properties,” he said. “Correction, the city can't take care of these properties.”
Budget cuts have forced the city to stop cutting weeds when the homeowner refuses.
The lack of money has not only hurt the appearance of northeast Topeka neighborhoods, but southwest Topeka neighborhoods too.
“I think it makes my house a little more trashy,” said Jeremy Carlile, a concerned neighbor who lives in southwest Topeka. “I think it makes the area a little more trashy.”
Carlile has lived next to this abandoned home for seven months.
The home and its tall weeds sit right at the corner of Huntoon and Gage where thousands of cars drive by every day.
Carlile says he used to mow the lawn, but gave up. Now, he's busy running people off the property, people he says have the potential to cause harm to his family.
“One person jumped over the fence and tried to accost me after I tried to run them off,” Carlile said.
Both Carlile and Gomez say they hope the city finds a solution soon before the problem grows even further out of hand.
Grass is growing even higher than usual because of our wet weather and relatively cool spring.
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