Houston – A community is joining together to help clean up a messy area in Houston. Earlier this month, KPRC 2 reporter Bill Spencer investigated complaints from Fifth Ward residents about several overgrown lots. Since then, a good Samaritan stepped in to help and the City of Houston made good on its promise to remove other debris.
Paul Holly is 59, meticulous about his home and fiercely proud of his Salina Street block.
For a man who sweeps his walkway, trims his own bushes and treats his house like a castle, living three doors down from what neighbors call a jungle has been an unbearable indignity — and a growing threat — for a decade.
What began as a tangle of weeds turned into bushes, and those bushes matured into trees. “You can see how weeds and grass become weeds, weeds become bushes and bushes become trees... yeah, that’s a jungle, that’s ten years’ worth of growth,” Holly said.
A few blocks away on Jewel Street, Tasha Royal runs a residential treatment center for girls and teens. Royal’s explains her anger about city inaction.
“I am pissed off because nothing is happening. When is it going to happen? I’ve called at least 10 times,” Tasha says.
Royal says the overgrown lot stands directly across from her home and the treatment center, creating safety concerns for the children she cares for and blighting the block.
Out of a vacuum of action came an unexpected hero: Clinton Johns. After seeing the reports and the community’s frustration, Johns grabbed a mower and a chainsaw and started clearing the lots himself. Within days both properties were dramatically transformed — not because the city acted first, but because a neighbor refused to wait.
Reporter Bill Spencer followed the trail from complaint to cleanup. After the citizen cleanup, Spencer’s calls to Councilperson Tarsha Jackson’s office finally prompted action. The city cleared out the brush that Clinton Johns cut down at the Salina Street lot where Paul lives, and officials say they expect a similar city cleanup on Jewel Street soon.
Neighbors are thanking KPRC 2 and the good Samaritan who helped, but their gratitude is mixed with bitter relief. They’re thankful the immediate hazard has been removed but furious it took public pressure and hands-on intervention to get the job done.
“I want to thank Channel 2 News and Bill Spencer... thank you Bill,” Paul Holly said.
“I want to say thank you to Clinton Johns and to Channel 2 news and thank you Bill for helping us,” Tasha Royal said.
Dangerously tall, overgrown lots are more than just ugly, they are magnets for pests, and a sign that city systems can fail the people who depend on them.
- If you live in Houston and see a dangerous, overgrown lot: report it to 311 with the address.
- If that doesn’t work, contact your city councilman’s office.
- Keep records of the number of complaints you file, and the case numbers you are given through 311 and follow up.