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Shepherd’s Nook urges city action on adjacent, overgrown parcel citing fire and rodent risk
Summary
A representative of the Shepherd’s Nook thrift store asked the council to address a poorly maintained 13‑acre parcel adjacent to 201 N. Frenchwood Drive, saying tall weeds and leaning trees create fire and rodent risks and that prior certified letters to the owner returned unclaimed.
Tom Sestad, representing Shepherd’s Nook (a 501(c)(3) operator of a thrift store at 201 N. Frenchwood Drive), asked the council during public comment to step up enforcement or take action on a large adjacent parcel he said has been for sale for more than 25 years and is increasingly overgrown.
Sestad said the overgrowth reaches roughly six feet or higher in places and described increasing concerns about rodent problems and fire risk. He said code-enforcement staff sent certified letters and contacted the realtor on the for‑sale sign, but received no reliable response and asked for the city to consider more aggressive measures such as expanded mowing, a routine twice-monthly perimeter cut and, if necessary, declaration of a public nuisance and city mowing beyond the typical 50‑foot right‑of‑way perimeter.
Staff later confirmed the city’s typical first step is to allow property owners time to correct violations and to trim 50 feet into adjacent parcels when the owner fails to act; Sestad asked that Friendswood extend that buffer to better protect adjacent structures and operations. Council did not take immediate action at the meeting but heard the concern and referred it into the enforcement process.
