Neighborhood Nuisance: Toledo man tired of taking care of a tree on city property

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - An elderly man living on Overly Court in Toledo has lived in his home for 25 years and the tree in front of his house has been a problem. The tree is on city property and sweetgum balls that grow from the tree fall all over the place.

“I can’t even do that with a blower anymore. I took a snow shovel to shovel them up my driveway to get down to my garbage cans because I won’t work on them. They’re hard and they’re like a ball and they will roll you over,” says Barnett. “The mail lady has to cut through here because she can’t walk on the sidewalk. I just can’t.”

Although the tree is on city property Barnett says he’s been told it’s his job to clean them up. That wasn’t a problem early on, but now that he’s gotten older, he can’t. He said he asked if he could remove the tree, and the city said he would be fined.

“If you take a look, the wind blows them in the yard. I used to clean up all the yards because they were my balls, and I just refuse to do it anymore,” says Barnett.

I reached out to the City’s Urban Beautification department and they say as a standard policy, the city does not remove healthy trees, just to remove them. But considering this case, they would see what can be done.

If you have a troubled property in your community that has become a neighborhood nuisance, send an email to willie.daniely@13abc.com. Include contact info, photos, and as many details as possible.

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