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Crazy-tall grass at this city-owned property irks neighbors

The last time the city mowed the property was late July.

ST. LOUIS — It’s a sight some say is all too common in St. Louis. Tall grass and weeds surround a vacant home to the point passersby can’t see the front porch from the street. The grass in some places is eight feet high and has completely swallowed the sidewalk out front.

The property that’s driving Joyce Kirk crazy sits at 5265 Northland Avenue in the Kingsway West neighborhood.

“It’s horrible,” she said. “I don’t even look up that way anymore.”

Kirk has lived on northland avenue for nearly 50 years and raised three sons in her home. She and her family have worked hard to keep it looking nice, with trimmed bushes and freshly-mowed grass. It reminds her of what the neighborhood used to look like.

“This used to be a beautiful neighborhood from Union all the way down to Kingshighway.”

Now, there are nearly as many vacant homes on the block as lived-in. And just four doors down from Kirk’s is the mess she can’t stand.

The Northland property is owned by the St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority, a part of city government that takes control of derelict properties and tries to re-sell them.

It's one of 22,000 the city's Forestry Division crews are responsible for mowing. And the division’s commissioner says they can only get to each one about three times per year.

The last time the Northland property was mowed was late July.

So, why does it take so long between service dates at certain properties? Jankowski says it's all about fairness and efficiency.

“We have to treat all our wards equally. So, we stay on rotation. And what we're trying not to do is jump to this lot and then across town to another lot,” said Jankowski.

The commissioner says a variety of grass types on city lots pose individual problems and can make things seem worse than they are.

“This is Johnson Grass,” said Jankowski, grabbing a stalk of the tall, leafy stuff. “If it's 90 degrees and there's plenty of moisture in the ground, this grass will put on a foot of growth in a week.”

Next year, Forestry crews will spray chemicals to help control Johnson Grass and keep lots from looking so bad.

In the meantime, crews will keep cutting throughout the winter to clean up overgrown lots. They made it to the Northland property late Tuesday afternoon and will continue along the block Wednesday morning.

That's something Joyce Kirk is happy to hear.

“It's very good,” she said.

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