The recent rain, heat and humidity have generated a bumper crop of weeds, as is particularly evident on certain unoccupied properties around town.
Pictured at right (click to enlarge) is a commercial property on Ogden Avenue at Prince Street, where the weeds have grown tall enough to obscure the fire hydrant. Another formerly shaggy downtown commercial property, which is currently for sale, has been recently restored to neatness by a grounds crew.
The village code calls for action once grass or weeds hit the 10-inch mark, said Doug Kozlowski, director of communications.
With the growing number of foreclosures and unoccupied commercial properties, the problem of overgrown green spaces is also on the upswing.
When Code Services personnel observe or are alerted to such properties, they contact the mortgage holders and give them 10 days to deal with the overgrowth.
That task is more complicated when the foreclosure process is underway, Kozlowski said. “In those situations it may be difficult to contact the lender or mortgage company. So at that point, the village will hire a contractor to do the work.”
The village recoups its costs by putting a lien on the property, he said.
Neighbors or other residents are often the first to report overgrown properties or other property maintenance issues. “They are absolutely encouraged to contact us so we can take steps to remedy the situation,” Kozlowski said.
“Because of the weather we’ve had things are definitely growing and the calls have increased.”
Want to report an overgrown property? Call the village at (630)434-5500.
Things that people have who rent bank owned/foreclosed homes (generally speaking or as observed by Meat):
A. Colorful tattoos depicting an interest in Asian mythical beasts, the names of your children (lest you forget) and simulated barbed wire
B. Pitbulls. Preferably 2. Not Golden Retreivers, not Beagles, Pitbulls.
C. Rusted junk (is there a store that caters to aficionado’s of rust?? If so, why?)
D. Difficulty keeping a shirt on or pants from slipping down to reveal undergarments.
Things that people do not have who rent bank owned/foreclosed homes (generally speaking or as observed by Meat):
A. Lawnmowers
For those that can relate, I encourage you to contact ‘Mitch’, code enforcement official for Downers Grove. Helpful, courteous, responsive, and unfortunately, busy.
Gonna be a looong summer.
That’s funny, because my mom lives at Rogers and Highland where the village has failed to sod the parkways. The weeds have grown vigorously, some are over three feet tall and have started to flower. The situation there definatley calls for action, lead by example, Village!
Editor’s note: Saw that last night. It is overgrown and weedy and plywood sheets are still leaning against the village’s oldest tree.
From your picture Elaine, people my mistake Scooby’s as the offending property owner, when it is actually the empty dry cleaner on the west side of Prince.
Editor’s note: You are correct, Trish. Thanks for the clarification.
May just be a silly spin on original post, I know Downers is more high end now days. But with that attitude or generalization towards those with “bad luck” or circumstances should not always be label as trailer trash. You never how life’s cycles are going to affect one’s own fortunate or stature in life. I see more home owners in Downers selling their home “for sale by owner” to save money on commission, I suppose. I saw a former neighbor of my whom once had a professional job, who now appears to run a small engine repair/resale shop out of his garage to make ends meat (no pun intended). I know times are tough, but you never know about a home owner’s health turning for the worst or foreclosure bought upon by medical bills and/or being laid off. On a another note to use the saying “never judge a book by its cover,’ forecloses are never a good thing, it is the American dream to own a home and maintain the lawn properly. I understand I am too serious, but readers should consider there might be legitimiate reasons for a foreclose or bad lawn care. I hope, I never personal go through a foreclose or have bad lawn care due to personal health or lack of funding for proper lawn maintenance. I understand the previous post is part joke and part serious but a post with that overtone a reader has to ask why is that individual not living in gated community in Oak Brook, Winnetka, Burr Ridge or Hinsdale? I know the answer that individual is no better than you and I. I still love Downers Grove, where a mix of classes can still live in the same town and have different opinions on everything from lawn care to town budgetary issues. Thanks DGREPORT.COM for allowing us to post our difference of opinions in a town we call home.
Weeds = Class warfare, possibly. Renter/bank owned vs Owners absolutely. I suspect the majority of renters treat the home like they own it. It’s not classist to expect a neighbor to maintain thier property. There is an empty bank owned near me that really sticks out on the block, even when it’s occupied. Funny that it’s okay to “judge” that everyone in hinsdale is gated, tatless and wealthy. My weeds=lazy and prefer air conditioning.
Class Warfare (Earl)… You don’t live in DG, anymore. So, stop passing judgments on it’s citizens.
The village is waiting for the Sanitary District to finish sewer work before finishing the street. No one knows when that will happen. Public Works has been instructed to inquire politely but firmly asking for a time frame.
Those overgrown patches of green are playoff lawns. The owners must be Hawks fans.
Class warfare-
To assume that lawn care and property maintanance are, by definition, beyond the abilities of those who rent homes because of personal financial issues, ‘bad luck’ or ‘class’ is the only discrimination (generalization is what you called it) in this thread.
My grandfather was as poor as Job after Lucifer’s intervention and he still woke every morning at 5 to sweep the sidewalk in front of his home. Better see a cardiologist about that bleeding heart.
I can understand if a property is vacant why the weeds grow higher than the fence, ghosts and bad memories make for poor groundskeepers. However, if your living there its your responsibilty to mow the lawn once a week, regardless of what your W2 from says. Have a little pride.
On that note, I made an interesting observation last week. After a series of conversations with Mitch from code enforcement (I have him on speed dial) the neighbor who rents behind me finally broke down and fired up his lawn mower to tackle the thorny prarie that has become his yard (I should note that he appears young, able bodied and has at least 2 teenage sons who could all conceivably help out). I watched from the deck, hopeful that this could even become a pattern, you know, like a weekly thing.
He mowed about half the backyard, to about an imaginary line just beyond the ramshackle garage, and abruptly stopped. Apparently the back half of the yard proved to be just to challenging and he wasn’t up to it. I’m calling Mitch again this afternoon.
In the meantime, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, this lack of effort in completing a simple everyday task was indicative of a greater issue in his circumstances.
If you can’t even mow the $#@! lawn how do you ever expect to stop renting that house and move on to something better??
Who needs a neighborhood watch program when Downers has it’s very own Meat?
He sounds like a busy body with too much time on his hands.
Some years back, we had a small rental house across the street, and the frequency and quality of upkeep would of course vary depending on the tenant.
One of the last renters was a young woman with a son about 5 years old who she would regularly scream at. Not long after she moved in, we got a bonus: she moved a boyfriend in who wore a little pigtail and drove a rusty pickup truck. I guess he had some kind of job, because he would return late in the afternoon followed shortly thereafter by some buddies (co-workers?) armed with 12 packs of suds. They would sit on the tailgate of the rusty pickup parked at the end of the driveway and slam beers for the balance of the day.
I usually don’t care what anybody does if it doesn’t affect me, but the house came equipped with a back yard that could have been used for this purpose. At the risk of sounding elitist, I had the feeling we were living in Bumscrew, West Virginia.
The house has since been torn down and replaced by a McMansion. While I’m not generally a fan of teardowns, in this case it was a welcome change.
dgdude, you sound like Chad W.
I have to agree with the comment about Meat… While I’m all about people taking care of their own property, what good comes from ONE neighbor ratting on all the others? Just because someone appears young and healthy, doesn’t mean they are!!!!! If it’s that important to you, why don’t you stroll over and ask if he needs help??? I know that would amount to less meaningful conversations with Mitch, but I’m sure he has plenty of other things that need attention and not just YOUR crusading!
I’ll toss in a little support for Meat. Unless you’ve lived next door to–or behind–someone who’s flagrantly not mowing the weeds in their yard, you can’t know how maddening it can be. I’ve lived next to such a dump, and it was not a rental. When the weeds got over a foot high, I called the village and they got the owner to do what they should have done in the first place. Kudos to the code enforcement people for keeping DG a nice place to live.
I don’t see the village doing anything about these houses who fail to maintain their homes. Meat shouldn’t have to rat out his neighbors. The other day in the Reporter paper a letter to the editor pointed out a home on 67th street where the house is so bad that it can only be a tear down. I did some checking on it and the village has made the owner to patch the house up so rodents can’t get in(or out) and cut the grass. Seems to me there is some real estate law they could use to take it over and tear it down. I hope the neighbors complain more. Its the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
Unfortunately DGlifer, the only ‘rats’ are living under the rotting, collapsed porch buried beneath the overgrowth-right next to the family of possums.
A point of clarification. I’m not complaining to the village about paint peeling from a garden gnome or a smear on the neighbor’s infinity globe (love those..). I’m talking about overgrowth that has buckled back my fence, invaded my garden and become a canopied Holiday Inn for every varmint, critter and stray cat within 5 miles. He appears young and healthy because he is, I don’t care if he has gout, black lung and Halitosis-if he’s healthy enough to rev his motorcycle at 4 a.m and throw beer bottles into my yard he’s healthy enough to MOW THE %$#@! WEEDS.
Maybe you could provide me your address and I can inquire about rental homes in YOUR neighborhood. You could be friends, help him out with his yard work, be the kind soul I apparently am not. He could instruct you in the art of home tattooing. Need something rusty? He has plenty and I bet he’d be willing to share. Do your pants have that pesky habit of staying on? He can show you how to adjust them so they cling precariously to your lower butt cheek and the world can marvel at your Fruit of the Looms.
Elaine has my home email, I’ll wait for that information. Your a better man than I.
A few years ago, a commercial property near my house had let the weeds get completely out of control. The weeds were actually waist high. When the owners of houses in the neighborhood keep their yards in reasonably good shape, as well as other owners of other commercial properties in the vicinity, there isn’t a lot of choice but to call the Village.
DG isn’t really that “high end” afterall with all of these issues now I doubt Highlad Park , Barrington hasd this much of a problem with these residential upkeep iussue’s. Look at Rogers Street as an example. What’s the hold up finishing that last patch of raod that just needs a new top layer of asphalt? Then there is the weeds and boarded up old tree. “High end” REALLY? Then take a walk over to McCullum where the storm water project and new soccer basin has’t had any work performed there since very ealry April only after I called the PW office and spoke to the Project Manager. Unsitely abandon work site vs award winng park. NOT high end. Keep up the good work Meat!
Kudos to DG Sanitary and ted Cherwak. I spoke to him late last week regarding the weeds and street condition on Rogers, justr east of Main. Well as of yesterday the weeds are gone and today the street was being prepared for the finally paving. Ted was very nice on the phone, listened to what I was saying and acted on it. The first phone call regarding this problem was to the village number listed in your article (above) and they were not at all nice, in fact the man I spoke to there was very rude. So thanks to Ted Cherwak for your great attitude and quick response.