Erie Street folks uncomfortable living near ‘scary’ overgrown house

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) — Neighbors living on Erie Street in Toledo say they are uncomfortable living near an extremely overgrown home.

The overgrowth is so bad that they can’t even see the roof, let alone walk in the front yard. Jenifer Booth has lived across the street for four years, she said she didn’t know what else to do.

“It’s disgusting. I mean, it’s just mean. It’s awful and like I said, there are rats and it just draws animals into critters and they come on my porch in my yard and in my basement,” Booth said.

Being on the other side of the street, she worries about passers-by, because who knows what is hiding in the bushes.

“It’s kind of scary, you can’t even walk on the sidewalk there. People have to walk down the street and around it, and it’s just a mess,” Booth said.

And after years of reporting the property, she said the city of Toledo had abandoned the place.

“I called the city and like I said they only came out once to clean it up and it’s been about four years. I mean last summer I could see the top of the house, and you can’t even see the top of the house anymore,” Booth said.

13abc contacted the City of Toledo Code Compliance Department, a representative said orders were issued to the owner in 2021, but nothing changed. The next step is to bring the owner to justice. In the meantime, they will ask the Department of Urban Beautification to clean the place and send the invoice to the owner.

“Our kids should be taken care of too. They shouldn’t have to play with stuff like that,” Booth said.

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