CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — When James Polk walks through his back gate, he sees a forest of towering bamboo plants completely covering the back yards of his two neighbors.
"I got raccoons, snakes, rats living back here, you know?" said Polk. "It just needs to be taken down, something done about it."
He said he can't get the owner of one of the houses in the rental property to cut back the bamboo.
The other house is vacant after the owner died five years ago and now is in the hands of heirs.
"Have you called the city about this?" Action 9's Don Griffin asked.
"I called the city and they say there's not a city ordinance against it, so there's nothing they can do," Polk said.
Griffin checked and the city's ordinance doesn't regulate bamboo or kudzu. But the city's code enforcement officer had the discretion to order its removal if they feel it threatens adjacent property and structures.
Griffin made a call and got code enforcement to investigate.
The city hired someone to cut it and they will send a bill to the property owners.
Griffin was there to see the bamboo being cleared and afterward, said it looked like a different place.
Polk is glad he asked for Action 9's help. "Called you and got action," he said.