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RIVERTON -- Sales of new homes rose nearly 10 percent from June to July, prompting optimism that the recession may be over and the housing market is springing back to life. But don't tell that to people in one Utah neighborhood.
The Riverton neighborhood is loaded with high-end homes with foreclosures and lawns full of weeds. Homeowners in the area say they're fed up with the eyesores affecting their property values, but figuring out who is responsible for cleanup is a tricky process.
Angie Snarr has an ever-growing problem in the front and to the side of her home: weeds that threaten to overtake her yard. She's tried cutting them, tilling the soil, but she can't keep up and has now all but given up.
"This was actually our dream home when we built, and at this point we can't wait to get out of it," Snarr said.
The story is the same down the street: a foreclosed home with a front yard full of weeds; an empty lot hidden by the brush. Riverton City's sole code enforcement manager has given out numerous violation notices in the neighborhood, in addition to the hundreds of other problem yards in the city.
"I get calls all the time: ‘What is the city doing? Why is the city not doing anything?'" code enforcement manager Bill Salmon said. "When, in reality, we're doing everything we can."
By law, Salmon must give out two notices before he can pursue criminal charges or have the weeds cut down by contractors with the bill sent to owners. Often, with foreclosures owned by out-of-state banks, placing a lien on the property is the only way to get the job done.
"A bank in D.C. gets a notice from Riverton City about weeds on their property, that's not a high on their priority list," Salmon said.
Spec homes, or undeveloped lots that haven't sold, are the responsibility of the developer. The developer of the lot in Snarr's neighborhood says they cut the weeds in the neighborhood last month and weren't notified there was still a problem.
Snarr says she's tried repeatedly to do just that.
"I don't get return phone calls or e-mails," she said.
Code enforcement says since the process can take so long, your best bet is to notify them as soon as you notice weeds starting to grow out of control.
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
