ST. LOUIS, Missouri (First Alert 4) – If you drive past the 3700 block of Iowa Avenue in Gravois Park, you might mistake the tall grass for a cornfield.

“Totally crazy,” said Carla Ennis.

Carla Ennis showed us the back of the dilapidated neighboring property. Illegal dumping, mattresses, beer cans and even TVs are everywhere, and the grass is so high that you can hardly see the empty house from the alley.

The tallest grass in the backyard appears to be just under ten feet tall and resembles small trees in the distance, making it look more like a forest than a backyard.

“It reflects badly on the city of St. Louis,” Ennis said.

Ennis said she has made several requests to the Citizens Services Office to have the lawn mowed, but it is usually only mowed every six to 10 months. She also said the vacant house is occupied by squatters.

“People are breaking into the house. They’re coming through the boards,” Ennis said.

Ennis said she doesn’t even let her dog, Poodie, into her backyard because she doesn’t know what’s in the tall grass.

“No idea what’s in there,” said Ennis.

Across the road in Ennis, the situation is identical, the grass is a similar length. The resident next door said it had been growing steadily for over three years.

“It’s overgrown. In my opinion, it’s unsafe,” said Nicole Scherr.

Nicole Scherr said when she moved in in 2021, it was a freshly mowed vacant lot. Now it’s anything but that.

“I’ll just keep calling,” Scherr said.

She also said she had filed complaints with the city.

“They tell me they’ll be here on a certain date and then I hear nothing,” Scherr said.

First Alert 4 has reached out to the mayor’s office about these two properties but has not yet received a response.

We also spoke to the property owners on the phone.

William Arman, the owner of the vacant house next to Ennis, said he was close to selling the property but offered no explanation for the tall grass.

We have also contacted the owner of the vacant property and have not yet received a response.

The residents of these properties, on the other hand, only care about making their neighborhood look attractive.

“Do your job. That’s what you get paid for. We don’t have to live like this,” Ennis said.

City Councilman Shane Cohn told First Alert 4 he was never contacted about these specific issues, but sent an email to the city’s Forestry Department on Sunday.

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