City does poor job of cutting tall weeds on vacant lots, watchdog says

The city of Chicago does a lousy job of cutting tall weeds on vacant lots, contributing to blight on the South and West sides, a watchdog says.

What’s more, Chicago’s record keeping is so bad that last year officials cited city-owned vacant lots almost 5,300 times, a quarter of all violation notices for overgrown weeds, mistakenly thinking the properties belonged to private owners.

City Inspector General Joseph Ferguson said the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation doesn’t meet its own goals of mowing all city-owned vacant land at least four times between May 1 and Oct. 31. Nor does the department address complaints about overgrowth within six weeks, which contributes to a nuisance in some neighborhoods. “High weeds can conceal illegal activities, obscure dangerous debris, harbor rodents and serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes,” the report said.

“The problem of vacant lots with overgrown weeds particularly afflicts neighborhoods on the South and West Sides, impacting efforts to combat blight and collaterally contributing to persistent inequities in public safety, public health and economic vitality,” Ferguson said in a separate statement.

READ THE REPORT: Department of Sanitation Weed-Cutting Program Audit

The city is responsible for cutting weeds that have grown taller than 10 inches on the public way and on city-owned and private vacant lots that aren’t maintained by their owners. When private owners let weeds grow on their lots, the city can issue a ticket requiring them to mow within 10 days or face a fine, the report said.

One problem is that the Streets and Sanitation Department doesn’t have “complete or accurate” lists of all vacant lots owned by the city, Ferguson’s report said. In fact, city officials mistakenly issued 5,265 citations to city properties, nearly one quarter of the 22,295 weed-cutting citations entered last year, the report said. “These mistakes wasted the time and resources” of the city’s law department, the report said.

In response to the audit, the Streets and Sanitation Department agreed to work with the city’s legal and planning and development officials to improve its list of properties, the report said. It also agreed to improve its data collection systems and processes, according to the report.

In a statement, the city department said it’s working with Ferguson’s office and is already making recommended improvements based on the report. “We expect all recommendations to be implemented by the 2021 weed cutting season,” the statement said.

Last year, the city settled a lawsuit for $4 million brought by the family of a 7-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a tractor driven by an employee of a private contractor for the city. Ferguson noted Streets and Sanitation was reassessing its policies and procedures on weed cutting since the tragedy and his recommendations “would not contradict changes the city made as a result of the legal settlement.”

Brett Chase’s reporting on the environment and public health is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.