Hidalgo Co. Resident Upset over Unkempt Alleyway
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EDINBURG – An Edinburg man is fed up with the unkempt alleyway behind his home that he says nobody will take responsibility for.
“There's a lot of rats and I don't know what to do. I would like for them to clean here because there's a lot of mosquitoes,” resident Francisco Barraza said.
He said grass grows more than five feet tall in the area that separates his backyard from his neighbors on the next block. He takes care of the land directly behind his house, but not the whole street.
“The city said each one of us needs to clean our side of the alley,” he said. “But we all know this belongs to the city. The city needs to come.
CHANNEL 5 NEWS reached out to the city of Edinburg.
They said this area is an easement, not an alley. That means the city doesn't own the land. Technically, it's private property that the city uses for drainage.
Barraza said he doesn't have faith his neighbors will step up and start doing their part, so he wants the city to take initiative.
“I would like for them to come and clean the alley and take all those pieces of woods away. I hope that if they do that, I can get rid of the rats near my house,” he said.
The city said they sent notices to neighbors and if they don't do the job, a court will have to get involved.
If the property owners do not clean up the easement within 10 days, the city said they can get a court order through a nuisance abatement program to clean up the area themselves.
They added the property owners would have to reimburse the city for the work.
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