Local

Neighbors say abandoned home looks like jungle

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — People in one community say the grass is so high at one abandoned home it looks like a jungle.

They wonder why the Clayton County Code Enforcement won't remove the eyesore. "This property been vacant for years," resident Gerald Addis said.

The grass at this vacant home on Margaret Circle is so high, residents lose sports equipment in it.

"We've lost a couple of balls, like tennis balls, and I'm not going in there," Octavious Benson told Channel 2's Tom Jones.

From the front of the house to the back, the grass is several feet high. Neighbors say it's not only an eyesore, it's dangerous. "We've had people come on the street and they've broken into the house before. We've had problems with drugs," Addis explained.

Another homeowner says he's seen snakes and the occasional fox in the yard. Mosquitoes are also a problem with all the rain we've been getting. It's why people here are telling their kids to avoid coming near the tall grass. "I have nieces and nephews and I don't want them to get bit by nothing in there like that," Benson said.

Neighbors say Clayton County Code Enforcement has done nothing to get the property cleaned up.

But Jones found out that's not true. He noticed a violation sign on the home's front door and on the mailbox. The notice threatened to fine the homeowner if the grass wasn't cut. It was written in July.

Code enforcement says it is having a tough time locating the owner. If the grass isn't cut soon it says it will have county inmates clean up the property and then put liens on the home to get reimbursed for the cost of the cleanup. Homeowners say that could take awhile. "Honestly I think it needs to be tore down. Just completely wipe it clean," Addis said.