Inquirer: Neighbor's backyard littered with trash bags

We have a doozy today, folks. But assuming you've seen the accompanying photo, you already know that.

A Concerned Reader named Barbara sent me a snail-mail that included that photo and a few more of the back and side yards of a house on Avalon Road in east Columbus. She owns the house next door, from which the photo was taken. And it's rental property, so you can imagine how hard it is for her to find tenants.

"The house is not only an eyesore, it is a health hazard. There are dozens and dozens of trash bags in the side and back yards. I'm concerned about the varmints," Barbara wrote. "Can you help?"

I'd be a pretty sorry Inquirer if I didn't.

I called Pat Biegler, who directs the Public Works Department, which includes the Special Enforcement Division. I also sent her a copy of the photo above.

Once she'd had a chance to see if the house had been reported and to look at the photo, she called back and said the house had just recently been called in and was on a list to be inspected by Special Enforcement officers, but she didn't know how many might be ahead of it on the list.

Knowing that the rules for backyards are different from those for front yards, I asked Special Enforcement Manager Drale Short whether the city would be able to force the resident to clean up his or her act.

The answer is maybe. If it were out front, it would be a slam dunk. But if it's in the back, one of two conditions would make it enforceable. If it's visible from the road (and the worst of it is not) or whether the homeowner next door can see the mess and is willing to file a complaint and go to court.

So how does that work?

"I will send an enforcement officer out there to see if we can see it from the street," Short said. "If we can, we will knock on the door and speak to the person living there. If we can't, then we'll need for the person next door to file a complaint."

So, will Barbara file a complaint?

I couldn't get in touch with her Friday or Saturday, and I don't work on the Sabbath. (Unless my boss tells me to.)

But I'll keep trying and will let you know how this one turns out.

Stay tuned.

Seen something that needs attention? Contact me at 706-571-8570 or mowen@ledger-enquirer.com.

This story was originally published January 18, 2015 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Inquirer: Neighbor's backyard littered with trash bags."