Shelby Township subdivision buried by tumbleweeds

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJBK) - A Shelby Township subdivision is looking more like a scene from an old western-- with tons of tumbleweeds blowing through yards.

So what's causing this massive mess and who's responsible for cleaning it up?

FOX 2: "Do you feel like you're watching an old western movie?"

"Yes I do," laughed Barbara Davis.

However, Davis is not watching the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly or another western movie with tumbleweeds blowing in the wind. Instead, she is looking outside of her Shelby Township home and the tumbleweeds are more than an eyesore.

"It makes you itch," she said. "If you have contact with it really bad, it itches."

Tumbleweeds have taken over Barbara Davis's backyard. She also tells me she has to blow out her driveway every single day just to get her vehicles in and out.  The tumbleweeds are on her front lawn and her bushes, and she says they're coming from a nearby field.

The field used to be owned by the Utica School District. Davis said the problem has gotten worse over the past two years once a contractor bought the land, and what FOX 2 captured on camera is just from one week.

Township Supervisor Rick Stathakis says he went to the subdivision on 22 Mile and Schoenherr and saw for himself.

"It was a mess," he said.

Apparently, the contractor waited until the last minute to have land mowed, and the problem got out of hand.

"I think what happened this year is they kind of let it go until the last minute," Stathakis said. "And when they had the equipment breakdown, that's what really caused the problem."

Because it is private property, Stathakis said he can't send his parks and recreation department to mow the field, but the Township is keeping a close eye on the work that's being done.

"Our attorneys have been involved as well," he said.

FOX 2 did see the field being mowed while we were at the Silent Woods Subdivision. The township will be clearing up the roadways, but residents are stuck removing the tumbleweeds from their own property.

"So I hope by them mowing it, it gets better," Davis said.

The township supervisor says the land is going to be developed within the next year, so residents can hope they won't have to watch a sequel to the tumbleweeds nightmare.