SAN BENITO, Texas (KVEO) — A San Benito resident is frustrated with overgrown grass on a property right next to their home. The resident told KVEO it has been causing a lot of problems for him.

“The grass is pretty overgrown, it is never maintained,” said Joe Lozano. “We have been getting a lot of problems with rodents, we’ve had snakes, rats actually got into our garage, and they ended up chewing through my fiancé’s car’s wiring.”

Lozano has tried to maintain the grass on his property. But besides the rodents coming into his yard, Lozano said the grass has become an eyesore in his neighborhood.

“There’s trash being thrown in the backyard, and there are dogs out there that tear up through the trash,” Lozano said.

  • Dogs tear through trash bags left in the grass.
  • Overgrown grass towers over neighbor’s fencing along Benito Ave.
  • A snake slithers from the overgrow grass.
Courtesy: Joe Lozano

The Cameron County Environmental Health Department said it has been receiving many reports of overgrown grass in San Benito and across the county. But the department said these kinds of problems take a lot of time to fix.

“At this time Cameron County does not have a program to clean every single lot in Cameron County,” said Environmental Department Director Gustavo Olivares.

The Environmental Health Department has sent an inspector to the property along Benito Ave. But Cameron County has to locate the property owner in order to notify of the grass violation. The county said it holds the property owners accountable to maintain their lots.

“We might leave a note there that says to call us back,” Olivares said. “Keep in mind that after they have been made aware of the problem, they have 30 days to comply. It’s not something that can be fixed immediately, it’s something that can take long periods of time.”

As for Lozano, he plans to stay in contact with the Environmental Health Department. He hopes something can be done soon.

“We’ll just try to maintain it as much as we can,” Lozano said. “We’ll maintain our property and keep spraying or do what we can, but we can only do so much.”

According to Cameron County, if the owner does not comply with the order, they will face a Class C Misdemeanor and pay up to a $200 fine.