It looked like a small piece of the Amazon Rainforest stuck right in the middle of a KCMO neighborhood.
In September, the 41 Action News investigators first reported on two properties on the south side of Kansas City overgrown with weeds and other vegetation.
The weeds at one of the two Beacon Avenue homes had grown so high, one of the houses was barely visible from the street.
Neighbors had complained to the city for two years.
City inspectors issued numerous citations.
Municipal court appearances led to fines and even a few days in jail for Vance Tigges, the owner of both properties.
"From a city standpoint, there's not a lot we can do that we haven't done already," said John Baccala of the KCMO Neighborhoods and Housing Services Department.
It was so bad in September when the 41 Action News investigators first looked at the properties, you couldn't walk through the public sidewalk in front of one of the homes.
A little over three months later, you can now walk across that same sidewalk.
According to a neighbor, several volunteers helped clear away the weeds a couple of months ago in the front and backyards of both properties.
"It was real bad," said neighbor Jim Bozeman. "There were all kinds of raccoons and varmints running out of there,"he said.
Bozeman is okay with the current state of the properties even though they are far from perfect, despite some help from the winter weather on dying vegetation.
But he doesn't want to see the properties neglected again next spring and summer.
"When you got two thorns sticking out, it can mess up the whole neighborhood," Bozeman said.
The 41 Action News investigators have made multiple unsuccessful attempts to reach Tigges for comment since September.
He's currently on city probation until October 2018.
It means city inspectors will periodically check the properties for violations.
"This person has a responsibility to their property and that's what they need to do, they need to take care of their property," said Baccala.
City inspectors took a look at the two properties again on Wednesday.
Baccala says they're continuing to work with Tigges to bring his properties up to code, which they currently have still not met.
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Andy Alcock can be reached at anderson.alcock@kshb.com.
