Friday morning neighbors gathered, cheering in the streets at the intersections of 57th Street and Avenue S, as code enforcement workers tore down weeds from the house on the corner.
“Great, great,” Thomas Perkins said. “The city had finally promised to do something about it for five years now and now they finally have done something.”
“I feel like Christmas morning,” neighbor Jeremy Gooch said.
The home had weeds growing taller than the roof and all over the sidewalk. Neighbors said the home has been in that condition for years and they’ve complained to the city several times.
EverythingLubbock.com filed an Open Records Request for information on how many times the homeowner, Jack Clinton Looney had been cited for codes violations in regards to his overgrown weeds. Looney had been cited 14 times since July 2013.
Stuart Walker, Director of the City of Lubbock Codes Department, said his office sent a contractor to the home to abate the nuisance, but they were always turned away by Looney.
This week, Walker received an administrative warrant to clean up the property, because the owner had previously refused their attempts at abatement.
Walker said Looney will have to pay the $475 invoice for the service and a $150 administrative fee. If he does not pay within 30 days a lien will be placed on the property.Looney is already due in court in November for previous unpaid fines for code violations.
Many neighbors wondered what will happen when the weeds grow back?
Walker said because city staffers have already gone through the process once, the door is open and the abatement will be quicker, but he hoped it does not come down to that.
