RICHMOND, Va. – A Richmond woman wants the city to handle their part of governing, and clean up the overgrown alley behind her home.
“I feel awful complaining about it,” said Maybelle Mayo, who lives in a home along Georgia Avenue.
She said that over the past year the grass and trees have taken over the alley behind her house.
“But I don`t feel like this is what I should have to look at.”
She said the conditions interfere with her daily walks with her dog, Price.
Mayo said that even worse, illegal dumpers have started to target their alley and she`s worried about it.
Additionally, she said the “rodents and what not” worry her.
Mayo was hoping the city will address the trash and overgrowth.
“It has been here a long time,” she said, and added that she has reached out to the city about five times.
She is concerned about the trash trucks too and said it is difficult for them to get through.
“The trash trucks have made a little path on the side because they can`t go straight down,” Mayo said.
CBS 6 Problem Solvers reached out to the city for a comment. The representative said it`s the neighbors` responsibility to keep the grass and trees maintained from their property line to the centerline of the alley.
The City Council representative for the district, Parker Agelasto, said it`s the neighbors` responsibility to keep the grass and trees maintained from their property line to the centerline of the alley.
They also said that if illegal dumpers keep piling on the trash, neighbors should call law enforcement for help.
"City code enforcement staff can come and cite them, and they will have 10 to 30 days to fix the problem," Agelasto said. "We don't want to teach people that this is okay behavior, and certainly, we don't want to put it on city employees to clean it up -- we have to work as a team."
