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Resident asks East Brunswick to enforce ordinance after bamboo encroaches on his yard
Summary
Robert J. Schwenk told the council he received a violation notice for bamboo that has encroached from a neighbor’s lot and asked the township to require the neighbor to excavate roots or have the township hire a contractor and place a lien if the neighbor does not comply by the stated deadline.
Robert J. Schwenk, a resident who identified himself at the podium, told the council on June 22 that bamboo from a neighboring property has aggressively encroached into his backyard and that code enforcement has informed him he is personally responsible for excavating the underground root system.
Schwenk said he is on a fixed Social Security income, that he cannot afford the “multi‑thousand dollar” excavation the township described, and that historical testimony from the previous owner suggests the bamboo originated on the neighbor’s lot decades ago. He cited the township ordinance he said was adopted in 2024 (referred to in the meeting as ordinance 24‑18) and asked the administration to instruct code enforcement to order the neighbor at 14 Banner Court to excavate the full root system. He also requested that, if the neighbor fails to comply by the stated deadline, the township hire a contractor to clear the roots and place the bill as a tax lien against the neighbor’s property.
Schwenk asked the council to intervene because he said the ordinance was written to protect residents from being financially ruined by a neighbor’s invasive plants. “I physically and financially cannot absorb the cost of a massive excavation caused entirely by my neighbor’s ongoing code violation,” Schwenk said.
What the council did: in the transcript the council president thanked Schwenk for bringing the matter forward; no formal action or vote on his request is recorded in the meeting transcript. Schwenk referenced a municipal court summons and daily fines beginning on August 6 and requested immediate administrative intervention.
Next steps: Schwenk asked the administrator and code enforcement to act and sought confirmation that, if the neighbor does not comply, the township would use the ordinance’s enforcement provisions. The transcript does not include an on‑the‑record response committing to a specific town action or an immediate order to code enforcement.
