Belleville targets ‘junkyard’ property after 20-year feud with neighbor
What may have started as a feud between neighbors on South 19th Street has evolved into a legal battle by the city of Belleville to force a homeowner to clean up his property.
Police and other officials have gone to George Green’s home dozens of times to issue warnings and citations for ordinance violations. They’ve arrested him for not showing up in court and taken him to jail. They’ve towed away seven of his derelict vehicles.
Still at issue are the barbecue grills, furniture, lawn mowers, bicycles, construction materials, tools, appliances and trash that often fill Green’s yard and line his front sidewalk.
“His property is a junkyard, against ordinance, and it has to be cleaned up,” said Police Chief Matt Eiskant.
Last week, city officials met with Green, who promised to bring the property into compliance by his next municipal court date on Oct. 9, according to Assistant City Attorney Lloyd Cueto.
If Green doesn’t follow through, officials could require him to pay $4,219 in fines already accumulated, write more citations or ask a judge to issue a court order allowing them to send in workers to haul away his stuff and bill him for it.
“The ball’s in his court,” Cueto said.
Keeping a close eye on the situation is Kathy Draper, 69, Green’s neighbor across the street. She’s filed more than 200 complaints against him and his family with the city’s health, housing and building department in the past four years.
Mostly, Draper is unhappy with the appearance of Green’s property, but also the noise from outdoor parties and number of vehicles parked in his yard and on the street, sometimes for weeks at a time, she says.
Draper believes that Green is improperly operating an auto-repair business in a residential area. He has told officials he only works on vehicles for family members, which is allowed.
Draper said she can’t sit on her front deck or open her curtains without seeing the mess and, in some cases, the vehicles pose safety risks when they’re partly disassembled or leaking fluids on the street.
“It’s been hell,” she said. “I have no quality of life. I have to look at all of this every day, and it scares me. If I press charges or something, they might get mad, and they know I live my myself. But I’m tired of the bullshit. If you don’t say something, nothing’s going to get done.”
Draper maintains that the city hasn’t been aggressive enough in holding Green accountable for the condition of his property, which consists of three parcels. Other neighbors also question why problems that seem obvious have persisted for years.
Officials say they must follow the law, which balances rights of property owners and the community; go through the court process, which takes time and requires patience; and rely on tools such as fines to encourage compliance in non-criminal cases.
Neighbors more than 20 years
Draper grew up on South 19th Street in the 1950s and ‘60s. She moved back into her childhood home in 1992 to take care of her ill mother and has lived there ever since.
George Green, 62, and his wife, Debra Green, have owned their home at 411 S. 19th St. since 2004, county records show. Four years ago, he bought two adjoining parcels at 503 — where a mobile home was removed — and 507. A vacant home, garages and sheds are being used for storage.
George Green didn’t respond to a request for comment on this story.
Debra Green, 60, a school-bus driver, said they try to keep up the property, but it gets messy due to her 13 grandchildren coming to visit and her husband repairing vehicles.
“We’ve also been working on the house and trying to clean out the garage,” she said.
Debra Green argues that many of Draper’s complaints are petty, prompting officials to stop by the house but leave without taking action and wasting taxpayer money. She gave the examples of her grandchildren listening to rap music and playing basketball.
Sometimes, the family puts a portable basketball hoop in the street, according to neighbors and city officials. That’s prohibited by Belleville ordinance. Debra Green said the children move out of the way when cars approach, and they don’t block traffic.
“(Draper) don’t like us,” said Debra Green, who is Black. “I hate to say it, but she’s racist. We don’t pick on her. We don’t bother her. But she uses the police to harass us.”
A man who identified himself as Debra Green’s son also blamed racism, saying Draper “doesn’t like a Black family living in the neighborhood.” He declined to give his name.
Draper, who is white, rejects that characterization. She said the neighborhood has been integrated for many years, with Black and white residents living in harmony. Wilkerson Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church is on the other end of the block.
Eiskant defended Draper on this issue.
“Everybody wants to have an excuse for their lack of action,” he said. “You can look at that property and see that it’s in violation of law, and to claim racism because you don’t want to clean up your property, that’s just not the case.
“Nobody wants to live next to property like that, and then when they keep throwing up the race issue ... It’s not about race. It’s about misconduct.”
Seven citations in five years
George Green has more than 120 traffic citations on his St. Clair County Circuit Court record. The vast majority were issued for violations such as driving unregistered and uninsured vehicles, driving on a suspended license and not wearing a seat belt.
Police have issued 16 citations for property-related ordinance violations to Green in the past 25 years, including seven since 2020 that remain unsettled. They specify “nuisances” ranging from accumulation of trash or debris to tall grass and weeds.
When the city receives complaints, officials inspect properties and send letters to homeowners who are violating the International Property Maintenance Code or other ordinances, said Scott Tyler, director of health, housing and building.
If no corrective action is taken, Tyler tries to contact homeowners personally before police issue citations to make sure they’re not sick or disabled, on vacation or in nursing homes.
“I’ve met with George Green numerous times,” Tyler said. “He’ll say, ‘I’ll take care of it,’ and sometimes he does, and sometimes he doesn’t.
“It’s just a total lack of respect for the neighborhood and for the city. We’re not asking him to have a Taj Mahal there. We’re just asking him to not make it look like it does.”
Green hasn’t shown up for mandatory court hearings on his last seven citations, prompting judges to issue warrants for his arrest, court records show. He’s been picked up and taken to jail at least three times in the past year, according to police reports.
Draper has called police and accused Green of threatening her several times and pushing on her walker once, but the allegations haven’t resulted in criminal charges.
Draper requested an order of protection against Green about 10 years ago, she said. A county judge denied it.
Cited for operating business
Draper said a news item earlier this year renewed her anger over the Green situation. Belleville City Council voted to deny a zoning variance for a mechanic accused of parking too many vehicles in a lot surrounding his licensed repair shop in a commercial area.
It seemed like a double standard to Draper, who says Green has been improperly operating a business in a residential area for 20 years with no special-use permit or business license.
“You’re slamming a guy who has a legitimate business, while (Green) is running a business in a residential area without a license,” she said. “Where is the fairness in that?”
Police cited Green in 2013, 2015 and 2016 for operating a business without a license from home, court records show. He didn’t appear at hearings, so judges found him guilty “ex parte” (in absence) and fined him.
Tyler pointed out that enforcement of this ordinance can be tricky.
“(Green) claims that he’s working on family members’ vehicles, which would be allowed,” he said.
Another city ordinance limits the amount of time a vehicle can be parked on public streets to 72 consecutive hours. However, if people move it every three days, that restarts the countdown.
Draper has taken dozens of photos on South 19th Street and Bunsen Avenue, the side street running by her home, showing Green working on vehicles with hoods up, tires off and frames jacked up.
In 2024, city officials warned Green to remove seven inoperable or unlicensed vehicles that had been parked on his property more than seven days, violating another ordinance, according to police reports. On Nov. 20, they towed them per court order.
“(The ordinance’s purpose) is really to try to avoid someone running a salvage yard or junkyard where inoperable vehicles pile up,” Cueto said.
Debra Green said her husband was keeping several vehicles in the backyard, behind a fence, for four of their grandchildren in high school. He was going to fix them up and give them as graduation gifts.
When asked what George Green did for a living, Debra Green referred to him as “self-employed” then said he wasn’t working.
“He has a knee injury,” she said.
Home of former police chief
On a recent weekday, Draper was reminiscing with Lana Brede, 74, another longtime resident of South 19th Street, about what the neighborhood was like when they were kids.
One of Brede’s fondest memories was the annual 19th Street Parade. Draper had health problems as a child and didn’t get out much, but she remembers children, Black and white, gathering apples off the ground under her family’s apple tree.
Belleville Police Chief Reese Dobson owned the home at 411 S. 19th St. — where the Greens now live — from the mid-1940s until 1970, according to local historian Bob Brunkow.
Draper and Brede recall the home being well-maintained by Dobson and subsequent owners Willard and Rosita Schuhardt. That couple sold it to the Greens in 2004 for $89,900, county records show.
“If (Dobson) saw that house now, the way it’s taken care of, he’d flip,” Brede said. “It’s just a dump.”
“I’m surprised that the city lets that go,” she added.
Brede lives in the home where she grew up, built by her parents in 1961. She said she tells visitors to come from Belleville Crossing Street to the south so they don’t have to drive by the Green property, which once had a toilet in the yard.
“I’m ashamed, and I think it’s a safety hazard,” Brede said. “About six months ago, I was driving down 19th Street, and there was a car jacked up on the street. The door was open, and nobody was in it.”
Several other residents agreed that the Green property has had a negative impact on the neighborhood, where homes are modest and aging but mostly kept up. A mixture of owners and renters plant flowers and decorate for the holidays.
Bob Bitters, a retired marker maker for an apparel company, has lived on South 19th Street for 23 years. He said it’s obvious that George Green is running an auto-repair business and that the messy condition of his yard hurts property values.
“Nobody wants to raise any hell about it,” Bitters said. “I’m sure the city’s aware of it. You’d have to be blind if you’re working for the city, and you don’t see that it’s a problem.
“It’s a good neighborhood. People get along pretty good, and everybody keeps their grass cut. I try to keep my yard up, and that’s not always easy when you’re 86 years old.”
Bonnie Bauer, 81, has lived on South 19th Street for 56 years. She remembers when the home at 411 was “such a pretty house.” Legend had it that it was built around a log cabin.
Bauer said the longtime “feud” between Draper and the Greens is widely known, but most neighbors stay out of it. That includes Cheryl West, 65, who is Black.
“I’m a peaceful person,” she said. “I don’t get involved in messes. But I tell the truth. I think they should make (the Green property) look better. He works on cars. He has a lot of kids. He’s peaceful. He’s nice. But I think he needs to limit the number of cars he works on.”
Voluntary court appearance
Citations issued for Belleville ordinance violations are handled through its municipal-court system. St. Clair County Circuit Court judges preside over dockets one day a month.
George Green attended a hearing on Thursday to address his seven unsettled citations related to property maintenance on a voluntary basis, according to Cueto.
The following day, Green met with police and other city officials and worked out an agreement, promising to clean up his yard by Oct. 9.
“We met with Mr. Green to try to come to terms on how to stop this cycle that’s been going on,” Cueto said. “It’s taking city resources. It’s taking court resources, and it’s keeping Mr. Green in the court system continuously.”
Draper is skeptical about Green’s promise and questions whether city officials will hold him accountable in the long run, given what has transpired in the past two decades.
Chief Eiskant said the police department is making the case a priority and that officers already have put in many man-hours patrolling the neighborhood in recent years.
“Good police work is happening,” he said.
Draper said Eiskant has been responsive to her plight, going back to his days on patrol, but some police officers, City Council members and other officials have made her feel like a pest for complaining so much about Green’s property.
“People say, ‘What do you want the city to do, Kathy?’” Draper said. “And I say, ‘Make him stop. It’s been 20 years. Make him clean up his yard. Make him stop running a business in a residential neighborhood. Make him stop.’ I’m tired of this.”
This story was originally published September 16, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
